The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 476 - 93 Away Game Advantage

The situation between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers was something no one had anticipated.

The League’s first, supremely talented, and mighty Purple and Gold Legion had unexpectedly lost two home games in a row, falling into a desperate 0-2 deficit.

Gan Guoyang’s extraordinary performance at the Great Western Forum made the people of Los Angeles feel despair; scoring 48 and then 51, everyone in the basketball community was talking about Ah Gan.

At the same time, the Stark, an American frigate in the Atlantic fleet, performing a patrol mission in the Persian Gulf, was hit by two Exocet missiles fired by the Iraqi Air Force, suffering heavy damage with 37 lives lost.

Meanwhile, Iraq and Iran were engaged in indiscriminate attacks on shipping; the war had become irrational, marked by random assaults.

At that time, the Americans were still supporting Saddam; Iraq and America were in a honeymoon phase, and this "accidental injury" was dismissed with an apology and compensation.

Los Angeles media, when describing the match between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers, used this incident as a metaphor: "Portland’s two Exocets hit Los Angeles, dealing a heavy blow to the Lakers."

It was indeed a heavy blow; since 1980, the Lakers had never faced such a dangerous situation in the Western Conference playoffs.

The last time they encountered such a predicament in the Western Conference was in the 1977 finals, with the Trail Blazers as their opponents.

They were swept out by the Trail Blazers that time.

Now, facing the same predicament, the broom of Portland was swinging before their eyes.

The good news was that the Lakers’ performance at the Memorial Coliseum had always been decent.

In the 1985 playoffs, the Lakers won all three games at the Memorial Coliseum, while the Trail Blazers didn’t win a single home game.

For the Trail Blazers, playing against the Lakers meant they had a definite advantage on the road, but they performed poorly at home.

This worried the Portland side. The fans were anxious, wondering if the Trail Blazers were under too much pressure when playing at home?

Or perhaps the support from the home crowd wasn’t enthusiastic enough, failing to ignite the passion of the Trail Blazers’ players.

But no matter how tepid the support, it should still be stronger than what you’d get on the road, right?

The fans were divided in their opinions. The Oregonian organized a poll for everyone to choose why the Trail Blazers performed poorly at home, especially against the Lakers.

After a unanimous vote, the top reason was: The Memorial Coliseum was too small and not imposing enough; Gan felt it wasn’t interesting playing there.

It was suggested that a new, larger stadium should be built to replace the Glass Palace with only 12,666 seats.

The second most popular reason was: Portland’s fans were too civilized; they weren’t crazy enough in the stands to adequately support the team.

Compared to cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York, Portland, with its sizable middle-class white population, was indeed more civilized.

Latter, Steve Kelly from The Oregonian asked Gan Guoyang during a media open day why he didn’t perform as strongly at home games.

Gan Guoyang replied honestly, saying, "Because at away games, you’re more focused. At home, there can sometimes be distractions. But it doesn’t matter; we will win the series and then take the championship."

Gan Guoyang was just that confident. A 2-0 lead was no joke, and most crucially, the Trail Blazers had found their confidence through their struggles with the Lakers.

Having confidence in a series is extremely important. If you believe you can beat the opponent, overcome them, you can unleash your energy and advantages.

On the contrary, if you are psychologically disadvantaged, you might only perform at 80% of your 100% capability, which makes it even harder to win.

The Lakers certainly possessed amazing talent and formidable strength, but the inevitable weak point was their aging frontline—Jabbar, as strong as he was, was also forty years old.

In the timeline where Gan Guoyang did not appear, the Lakers’ two major setbacks in the Western Conference were both at the hands of young superstar centers in upsets.

If a young superstar center couldn’t exert a sustained influence and the team fell into disarray, the Lakers would quickly establish a new dominance.

This was one of the reasons why Jabbar remained evergreen— in the Western Conference, there had not been any true challengers, or the challengers fell early due to various reasons.

Now, the situation was different. Gan Guoyang was rising; he was more super than any new superstar center. Jabbar, who withstood the Houston Twin Towers in the semifinals, now appeared slow, old, and outdated in the Western Conference finals.

In 1985, when he won the FMVP, his monotonous gameplay and uninteresting personality, accumulated over time, emanated a mature charm, turning him into a legend among legends.

But two years later, worn down by the assault of the Houston Twin Towers and Gan Guoyang, Jabbar once again emitted an aura of decay, and people started to speculate whether it was time for him to retire.

These discussions, combined with Pat Riley kicking doors in the locker room, caused the Lakers to tighten up. The team was very quiet on the flight to Portland.

Boarding the plane, sitting on the plane, getting off the plane, on the bus, to the hotel, training—the conversations were much more sparse than usual.

Everyone avoided making eye contact with Riley these past two days. His gaze was as sharp as a knife, and no one could withstand it.

Before the third game approached, Riley gathered everyone and softened his attitude. He apologized to the players and told them, "Victory won’t be waiting there for us. We have to charge forward and pluck it out. 0:2 is not the end of the world; we may perform better in Portland."

Riley was right—the Lakers did play better in Portland.

The players were more focused, their minds filled with thoughts of revenge.

The general manager, Jerry West, who accompanied the team, called out Wes Matthews for a talk the night before the third game.

Matthews was a significant acquisition by West in the summer. By bringing in this "lunatic," West hoped his madness would add some fierce spirit to the somewhat lackadaisical Lakers.

Full of talent, the Lakers always seemed to lack a tough style because their core player was Johnson. It was especially evident when comparing them to the Celtics in the past.

The Lakers needed "chicken blood" every time they won, needing motivation, needing the stimulus of special events—something they lacked compared to the Celtics and even more so the Trail Blazers.

In the first two games, Matthews didn’t get much playtime.

West suggested to Riley that Matthews’s minutes should be increased in the third game—he might provide some help.

"We need you to bring some energy, especially during rotation time," he said.

"Use your charge to create trouble for the Trail Blazers’ inside line and disrupt their arrangements."

"Just like in 1986 when playing against the Trail Blazers with the Spurs, I believe in your ability."

West entrusted a significant responsibility to Matthews; they needed to apply pressure to the Trail Blazers during rotation times when Gan Guoyang was off the court.

West astutely noticed that Jack Ramsey was controlling Gan Guoyang’s minutes in the Western Conference finals.

In the past, Gan Guoyang would play around 45 minutes per game, but in the first two games of this series, he was only playing around 40 minutes.

This was a lesson learned from 1985—not to exhaust Gan by the latter part of the series, as even an iron man has his limits.

When Gan Guoyang was off the court, the Lakers always managed to gain some advantage, but it wasn’t significant enough; the Trail Blazers’ bench held on tightly.

By the time Ah Gan returned to the court, the Trail Blazers’ situation had stabilized. His attack was so consistently potent that it led to despair in his opponents.

If the Lakers wanted to win, they had to establish an advantage during rotation time. They couldn’t play under pressure at the start and still be neck and neck during bench time—what’s the point?

Wes Matthews was worrying about not having enough room to perform. After coming to the Lakers, the team was so strong that he hardly got any chance to play during the regular season.

While with the Spurs, he could average 10 points a game, but with the Lakers, he dropped to 4 points, often playing in garbage time. After all, with Cooper and Scott, two players who were strong on both offense and defense, there wasn’t much opportunity for Matthews to take the stage.

In the first two games against the Trail Blazers, Matthews only played for 4 minutes in the second game to fill a gap, scoring 2 points without further impact.

Matthews actually had strong offensive skills, but the Lakers were full of talent, and besides, his height and defense were handicaps—Riley wouldn’t play this card unless absolutely necessary.

On May 22nd, the third battle between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers took place in the Memorial Coliseum. The Lakers faced immense pressure; another loss would spell doom, leaving no chance for survival in the series.

The game was earth-shattering, extending to three overtimes. By the end, both teams were running on fumes, nearly all players at risk of fouling out.

Gan Guoyang, who was so cautious about avoiding fouls, also left the game during the third overtime due to his sixth foul. When he left, he had scored 33 points, grabbed 20 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots.

The Lakers weren’t doing much better. Their inside player Jabbar and outside player Cooper were fouled out, with James Worthy and Johnson each carrying five fouls.

With a deeper bench, the Lakers held an advantage in this dire situation. Although the Trail Blazers’ bench had Hornacek and Dale Curry, they were still rookies, severely lacking in playoff experience.

Walton could no longer take the court; his ankle couldn’t bear it any longer.

But Wes Matthews was an old hand, and such a dire situation suited him perfectly. He scored 6 points consecutively in the third overtime, ending the game with 13 points.

Those fatal 6 points became the key to the Lakers’ victory. Eventually, they beat the Trail Blazers on the road with a 127:125, 2-point advantage, avoiding the desperate plight of a 0:3 deficit.

As usual, the Trail Blazers lost at home, further solidifying their reputation for being weaker on their own court compared to away games.

The bad news was that the next match between the two teams was also set to be in Portland.

The good news was that, in this series, the Trail Blazers held the home-court advantage.