The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 481 - 98: The Wall of Steel
The Lakers’ dismal state was beyond everyone’s expectations, yet it made sense.
In fact, they had already played three good games, especially the first of the series, where the team performed quite well, and their momentum was strong.
But stunned by Gan Guoyang’s blitzkrieg and followed by another disheartening 51-point defeat in the second game, by the third they were struggling, teeth clenched, to take a win, the whole team was exhausted.
So, after three good games, they had won only one, the expected 3:0 turned to 1:2.
On the contrary, the Trail Blazers took two of the three games thanks to Gan Guoyang’s sole dominance, and even though they lost the third, they significantly drained their opponents.
By the fourth game, with Guoyang providing solid backup, the others finally had their breakout moments, including noteworthy performances from Hornacek, Kossie, and other reserves.
Naturally, the Lakers wouldn’t give up easily. During the halftime break in the locker room, Pat Riley did his utmost to boost the team’s morale, administering a figurative shot in the arm to everyone.
Especially Magic Johnson, just before going back on court, Riley wrapped his arms around Johnson, repeatedly telling him, "Win this game, and we’ll take the series, the initiative will come back to us, and we’ll head back to Los Angeles..."
But to be honest, Riley’s pep talk didn’t have much effect on Johnson, who even felt something seemed off psychologically with his coach.
Riley kept repeating "we will win," which precisely reflected his weakness and anxiety, as his mind was preoccupied with the possibility of losing.
And when he said, "we will go back to Los Angeles," everyone knew that Los Angeles was practically Ah Gan’s home court, this guy being both cruel and cunning on the court.
Before the game, he’d boast, "I’ll crush you," but once the game started, he would continually set up his teammates, create opportunities for them, and run rings around the Lakers’ defense.
This was blatant tactical deceit, but the Lakers had no answer for it. Knowing it’s deceit, should they stop guarding Ah Gan in the third quarter?
Ah Gan was always known for ramping up in the third quarter, so what if he suddenly exploded in the second half, unleashing a wave of offensive pressure. What then?
Riley failed to offer any counter-strategies. In terms of tactics, rotations, matchups - they had tried everything viable and had no more cards to play.
This made Riley’s encouragements sound all the more hollow, and the players started to lose heart.
The lack of variation in the key was the Lakers’ biggest dilemma, Jabbar was too old, Duckworth and Green too young, they longed for an experienced veteran center but had none.
The team somewhat missed Morris Lucas—if he were here, he could at least throw a punch at Ah Gan—but the fact was he was with the Supersonics, and he couldn’t do much from there in the semifinals.
Johnson also missed Bob McAdoo and the summer of 1985, wondering why Jerry West didn’t sign Bill Walton. With Walton on board, they might have had a chance to counter, right? 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Instead, Walton was in Portland resting and creating opportunities for Gan Guoyang, and Walton’s offensive threat and passing kept everyone on the edge.
All in all, the Lakers endured a rather chaotic halftime, with players and coaches failing to align their wills and mindsets, returning to the court puzzled and weary.
Riley was disappointed with his own coaching. At this moment, all he could do was pray that the Trail Blazers would perform poorly in the third quarter, giving the Lakers a chance to counter-attack.
Sometimes that’s how playoff series go; it’s just a matter of who’s worse off.
Your own form might be bad, the situation dire, but your opponent isn’t doing any better.
If you’re just a little less terrible than your opponent and seize opportunities at the right times, you can turn around a game, and even the tide of the entire series.
The Trail Blazers, brimming with confidence, nonetheless didn’t dare to assume the third quarter was foolproof.
Sometimes a bad offensive feeling is like a virus, striking suddenly and spreading contagiously, causing the whole team to enter a scoring drought.
To avoid this, Ramsay told Gan Guoyang, "You have to play in the third quarter, don’t rest for a minute."
Gan Guoyang was the most stable asset on the team, even throughout the League, the low-post two-point playmaker that coaches dream of.
As soon as the third quarter began, the Trail Blazers made room for Gan Guoyang to go one-on-one. He received the ball in a great spot, shouldered past Jabbar with a turn, moved to the side with his speed, and finished with a move hook shot!
The gap between the teams widened to 17 points.
Johnson, with his backside jutting out, dribbled inside, turning for a hook shot of his own which also earned two points in response.
This was the moment to test a star’s mettle. Guoyang set a screen for Porter; while Porter’s drive to the basket missed, Guoyang caught the offensive rebound and deftly scored the follow-up basket.
With those two shots, Guoyang had already scored 20 points.
If he pushed hard in the third quarter, reaching 40 points for the whole game wouldn’t be a problem.
But after stabilizing the game with the first two baskets of the third quarter, Guoyang devoted his energy to defense.
The Trail Blazers’ defensive intensity shot up, advancing a level from the first half.
The Trail Blazers aren’t double-teaming; they’re just going with intense one-on-one defense, with Gan Guoyang squatting in the paint waiting for you to come in.
When Johnson still tried to post up, he was met with a block and a steal by Gan Guoyang, and in the fast break, Vandeweghe and Drexler each stormed to the basket for slam dunks!
The Lakers got "show-timed" by the Trail Blazers, and the cheers in the Memorial Coliseum grew louder and louder.
After nearly 5 minutes into the third quarter, the score was 50:64, with the Trail Blazers still leading the Lakers by 14 points.
The Lakers’ situation was getting worse. After scoring 4 points, Gan Guoyang stopped attacking with the ball and focused on defense and coordinating plays, resisting the Lakers’ comeback and assisting his teammates on offense.
The Lakers’ perimeter shooting remained cold, and the Trail Blazers’ defense grew tighter, letting Johnson and Scott shoot while Gan Guoyang and Thompson firmly guarded the paint.
If you score, you score; if not, we absolutely won’t give you a chance to contest for an offensive rebound and a second attack.
This way, the Lakers couldn’t mount a coherent offense or score consecutively, making it increasingly difficult to close the gap.
Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers continually slowed down the pace of the game on both ends, forgone offensive rebounds, quickly retreated on defense, and from time to time employed full-court pressing with what’s called "variable defense."
This defensive style was trained by Bobby Beelman, using changes in defensive rhythm to disrupt the opponent’s offensive flow.
Increase intensity, relax for a few plays, then ramp up the intensity again.
It’s like running: if a person runs at a steady pace, after reaching the limit, the body adapts and finds the rhythm, making running more comfortable as time goes on.
But interval running is different, speeding up and slowing down intermittently, and those with less experience might collapse.
The Trail Blazers’ defense is like making the opponent experience interval running, with the defense constantly changing between strong and weak, and the types of defense also varying. Although this sounds somewhat complex, it is indeed not easy to pull off.
Gan Guoyang is the defensive commander on the court; when he redirects most of his energy from one-on-one duels, he becomes the League’s best defender, Portland’s Steel Wall.
He is familiar with Beelman’s defensive pattern and commands the entire team to vary the defense according to the situation.
Usually, by the third or fourth quarter, after two changes in pace and intensity, most teams are pretty much done for.
During the regular season, the Trail Blazers often drag it out to the last stretch of the fourth quarter and then suddenly hit you hard. Everyone’s taking turns earlier in the game, courtesy for courtesy, but in the last 3 minutes, they’ll beat you down with one blow.
Beelman’s defensive improvement for the Trail Blazers is significant, and his concepts and strategies are avant-garde.
The Lakers aren’t just any team, and a sudden push obviously isn’t enough. During the third quarter under Gan Guoyang’s direction, they continually used variable defense to squeeze and torment the Lakers, with Gan Guoyang, in particular, constantly colliding with Jabbar in the paint.
Even though Jabbar is a giant as unmovable as a rock, he still couldn’t keep his emotions in check after repeated bumping and shoving by Gan Guoyang and erupted into a confrontation with him at the end of the third quarter.
It didn’t escalate into a physical fight, but the two engaged in a heated verbal exchange while the Lakers were still down by more than 16 points.
All of their countermeasures in the third quarter were ineffective, and Jabbar was again overwhelmed by a feeling of exhaustion and annoyance. Unable to bear it, he started trash-talking Gan Guoyang after one rebound contest.
Gan Guoyang certainly didn’t hold back, and the two went face-to-face with trash talk under the basket, until Strom broke them up.
Strom reminded Gan Guoyang, "Cool it, Ah Gan, don’t argue with the older guys, and don’t get physical."
Gan Guoyang smiled and said, "I’m not mad, I’m just acting with him to let him vent a little."
Strom shook his head; Ah Gan was always calm on the court, seemingly aggressive or abrasive, but it was all purposeful and rarely impulsive.
Of course, once he did act on impulse, the consequences were quite severe.
Riley subbed Jabbar out to let the veteran cool down; he sat on the bench and threw away his towel in frustration.
At the end of the third quarter, the score was 64:78, with the Lakers still trailing the Trail Blazers by 14 points.
Gan Guoyang scored only 4 points in the quarter, but he had already racked up 20 rebounds and 7 blocks over three quarters.
Gan Guoyang, fully focused on defense, was just as formidable, no gentler than when he was relentlessly single-handling.
The Lakers had scored only 64 points in three quarters, which was not at all the game mode they liked.
At the start of the fourth quarter, when the Trail Blazers fully spread out, giving Gan Guoyang a low-post one-on-one.
Gan Guoyang scored on 3 of 4 single post-ups and drew a foul from Duckworth, sinking the free throw, netting 7 points in a row and extending the lead to 20 points—that’s when a desperate Riley called for a timeout.
He was fuming inside, cursing that stubborn Ah Gan, the tenacious Trail Blazers, and their infuriating one-against-four tactics!
