The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 554 - 56: Comfort Zone

"Today is June 1st, Saturday, game day. Welcome to CBS’s live NBA program. I’m Dick Stockton. Tonight, we’ll bring you the Western Conference Finals playoff game, where the Portland Trail Blazers challenge the Los Angeles Lakers at their home court. This is the fifth game of the series, and the current series score is 2:2. The pivotal Game Five will determine the trajectory of the series and who will claim this year’s Western Conference championship,"

"According to statistics, when the series is tied 2:2, the team that wins Game Five has an 83 percent chance of advancing to the finals. The outcome of this game is undoubtedly decisive. The Trail Blazers, having been behind 0:2, leveled the score back in Portland, bringing both teams back to the same starting line. Tom, how do you view this game..."

Tonight’s NBA highlight, the do-or-die battle between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers.

The victory of this game is very likely to determine the winner of the series.

Whichever team takes the win will carry unstoppable momentum into Game Six, advancing to the finals.

Both teams are acutely aware of this, so there’s no room for error in this battle.

The atmosphere before the game is tense to the extreme, with the air almost thick with the scent of gunpowder.

For the third time in four years, the two teams meet in the Western Conference Finals, and whoever claims the Western Conference championship is typically the ultimate NBA champion.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the outcome of this game could very well determine this year’s NBA champion.

Before the game starts, both sides have some injuries.

Jerome Kossie has a tense calf muscle, Drexler has a bruised elbow, and Gilmore’s knee is swollen.

Magic Johnson has a sore knee, Byron Scott has inflamed ligaments, and Michael Cooper is suffering from ankle pain.

However, no one is absent from either team. Everyone is playing through injuries. After receiving some treatment from the team doctors, they bear the pain and get on the court for the game.

The healthiest man on both teams is Gan Guoyang, who in four years has rarely had even minor injuries, let alone major ones.

The most serious injury he’s had is the flu, as well as a bruised fist from punching Lan Bi’er.

His iron constitution astonishes the Trail Blazers’ medical staff. The intensity and duration of professional competitions are not something ordinary humans can endure.

In terms of injury resistance, only Jabbar is comparable to Gan Guoyang, and a healthy body combined with outstanding physical fitness is key to standing out amongst stars.

At this moment, the two iron men stand at center court, ready for the jump ball. Tonight’s head referee is Earl-Strom.

Strom, as usual, reminds Ah Gan, "Play well, don’t hit people, no fighting." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"I haven’t fought in a long time, let’s start the game, Earl," Gan Guoyang said.

Strom tosses the ball into the air, and the game begins.

The Trail Blazers score incredibly fast for the first point.

Though Jabbar is not much of a jumper anymore, he still manages to touch the ball first due to his height and arm span advantage, tapping it to Byron Scott. Scott was about to pass the ball to Magic but Gan Guoyang intercepts it, dribbling all the way to the basket.

With the Lakers players already forward, ready to attack, no one is on defense, watching as Gan Guoyang easily dunks for the score.

2:0.

This play reminds people of Gan Guoyang’s first professional game against the Lakers, where his first score was just like this.

An earth-shattering dunk that shocked the Great Western Forum.

This play shows his focus, aggressiveness, and strong desire to win.

Seeing this, Don Nelson paces anxiously on the sidelines.

Although it’s only the first basket, it’s not a good sign.

After back-to-back losses in Portland, the series momentum has shifted back to the Trail Blazers.

Returning to their home court, the Lakers must quickly seize the advantage and take back the initiative.

Otherwise, the game will be extremely tough. And Ah Gan, from the first game, has been performing better and better.

Double-teaming him is becoming less effective. This guy is exceptionally flexible on offense and is getting a better feel with his teammates.

In Games Three and Four, Gan Guoyang reduced his low-post attacks, instead seizing transition opportunities and utilizing his mid-range game.

A center this flexible makes Don Nelson itch; if he had such a center, he’s sure he could break the NBA’s regular season win record.

"Post! Post!"

On the court, Magic loudly directs his teammates on their positions, signaling Worthy to move to the low post.

Worthy asks for the ball on the left low block, Johnson passes, Worthy catches and immediately goes on the offensive.

But Worthy’s turn-around jumper is blocked by the helping defense of Gan Guoyang!

Worthy was too confident in his speed; the details of his turn and shot were not well executed.

Gan Guoyang, who successfully blocked a shot and got hold of the ball, passed it to Porter to set up the offensive play.

"Don’t think you can score easily in the paint, James, unless you can shoot from the outside," Gan Guoyang shouted at Worthy.

Worthy’s shooting was surprisingly poor among small forwards, with his accuracy plummeting as soon as he was more than 15 feet from the hoop.

Gan Guoyang’s taunt hit a nerve with Worthy. In the past two years, his outside shooting had improved a lot, but due to limitations in his fundamental skills, the improvement was limited.

This season, with Don Nelson’s takeover, Worthy’s tactical importance had declined. It was supposed to be his best season yet, but his role in the playoffs had gradually decreased.

Especially in the Western Conference Finals, Don Nelson was very fond of using three guards alongside the Twin Towers, which meant Worthy could only sit on the bench with AC Green.

This had a direct effect on his performance on the court; with reduced playing time came dwindling statistics, and more crucially, it was hard for him to find his rhythm in the game.

Afterward, Terry Porter stopped abruptly during an offensive play for a jump shot and scored, giving the Trail Blazers an early 4:0 lead.

However, under the basket, AC Green and Mychal Thompson got into a physical altercation, exchanging foul language.

Earl Strom hurried over to separate them and keep the game going.

Originally, Thompson wasn’t supposed to play tonight; his wife was due to give birth at any moment.

The Trail Blazers had allowed him to take leave and be with his wife and child, as family is the most important thing.

But Thompson insisted on joining the team in Los Angeles, stating he had already been too distracted by family matters during the regular season.

This playoff season he didn’t want to have any regrets, so he was determined to play and to win this game.

Fired with this intense resolve, Thompson played aggressively.

The Lakers’ offensive turn went to Worthy again, but this time his turnaround jumper was disrupted by Thompson and didn’t go in.

Thompson turned and squeezed past AC Green to claim the defensive rebound, then threw a long pass to the frontcourt, where Drexler drove straight to the basket.

On the flank, Guoyang followed up, and with a beautiful bounce pass from Drexler, Guoyang took off and slammed the ball in with one hand!

Gan Guoyang scored another two points, and the Trail Blazers gave the Lakers a 6:0 start to the game.

Next, Johnson and Jabbar executed a simple screen play.

With Johnson double-teamed, he bounced a pass inside, and Jabbar, catching the ball with a big stride, broke in and dunked with one hand.

The silent Great Western Forum finally erupted as the Lakers scored their first basket of Game 5.

But Porter immediately hit a mid-range jumper off a quick stop, playing very assertively tonight and decisively taking shots.

Byron Scott’s outside shot missed, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound. Things were looking bleak for the Lakers.

Gan Guoyang dribbled the ball across the half-court line himself, passed it to Porter, then to Drexler.

Thompson set a screen for Guoyang, who curled and cut into the paint, before circling around to receive the ball at the baseline.

To break Don Nelson’s relentless early double-teams and multiple player encirclements, Jack Ramsay had devised a play for Guoyang to receive the ball.

Once Guoyang got the ball on the baseline, one-on-one against Jabbar, he pulled up for a mid-range shot and hit it!

Starting with a 10:2 lead, the Trail Blazers were ahead by eight points, prompting Don Nelson to call a timeout.

Don Nelson was still betting on Johnson, his ace. He did not want Magic to keep passing the ball incessantly.

"Magic, we need you to attack, Drexler is no match for you. Go ahead confidently, put pressure on their guards, we’ll ignore the inside for now. We need speed, we need to score, we need to get our rhythm back. This game should belong to us, don’t give them a chance. I hope that this moment right now, is the last time we’ll be behind!"

Like Jack Ramsay, Don Nelson trusted his team’s biggest card to determine the way the game unfolded.

However, Don Nelson hadn’t noticed that James Worthy had taken off his goggles and was sitting on the bench with a bad look on his face.

The "Cobra" was dissatisfied with his role on the team, and Johnson, noticing this, said to Nelson, "Nellie, I think we should trust Worthy, give him plenty of chances to attack the basket and trouble Ah Gan. Always having me on the offense isn’t the pace I’m used to."

Nellie was Nielsen’s nickname, and Johnson’s words left him in a quandary.

While they were still arguing, the timeout ended and both teams re-entered the court.

Nielsen looked somewhat helpless, motioning the players to get on quickly. He gave Johnson a pat, indicating his agreement with Johnson’s decision, allowing him to play as he preferred.

Yet, in Nielsen’s mind, if Johnson could take full advantage of his offensive strengths, the Trail Blazers’ guards would not be able to withstand it.

The three-guard formation had its problems, but Johnson should look for a way to defeat Guoyang in one-on-one combat rather than avoiding it and returning to his comfortable playing style.

But there was no choice, as the Lakers were Johnson’s team, and no one could challenge his status.

The game continued, but not according to Nielsen’s plan.