The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 556 - 57: The Most Intense Match Part 2
Johnson and Jabbar also returned to the court, and Nielsen knew that if you didn’t put pressure on Guoyang in defense, he would suddenly exert a force on offense and tear your defense apart.
If the point gap widened to more than 10 points, the Lakers would be in trouble.
Nielsen really wanted to use a three-guard lineup, eager to use a flexible and varied offense to quickly catch up in points.
But that meant confronting Johnson and Worthy, suppressing the dissatisfied sentiments within the team.
After the end of the fourth game, these sentiments had already begun to emerge, and in this game, they became even more apparent.
If Nielsen had been coaching the Lakers since 1982 and personally nurtured Worthy and Johnson to their prime, he could have made such a move.
The problem was that it was his first year with the Lakers, where Johnson and Worthy had already won a championship together, and their teamwork and experience were considered effective.
If Nielsen wanted to prove that his approach was correct, he still needed more time and more victories.
However, if he didn’t apply his approach, how could he win against the Trail Blazers?
He fell into a deep paradox, a problem faced by coaches who take over a championship team mid-season.
You inherit a good foundation and talent, but it also means they have a set of established habits and systems.
If you want to break these habits and systems, you’ll face massive risks and could lose the support of the players or even provoke a rebellion.
When Pat Riley took over the Lakers, he followed Westhead’s approach and was lucky to win the 1982 championship.
Following failures in ’83 and ’84, Riley finally put his own stamp on the Lakers in 1985.
Without the Portland Trail Blazers, Nielsen could have followed this process, smoothly cruising to the finals and winning the championship without much problem.
This year, apart from Portland people, no one was a match for the Lakers.
Of course, without the Trail Blazers and without Guoyang, Riley wouldn’t have been dismissed, and Nielsen wouldn’t have had his turn to coach the Lakers.
Nielsen had heard that Riley was overwhelmed and ousted by Guoyang, and now he was beginning to understand why Riley had fallen apart.
Because Guoyang’s game ability truly exceeded others by a large margin; he was omnipresent and possessed astonishing stamina.
To break him, you needed to employ extreme measures.
Nielsen had many ideas, but in the noisy Great Western Forum, these ideas couldn’t be realized.
In the stands, Buss and Jerry West were intently watching the game situation.
The Lakers had a good owner and a good manager who cared deeply about the team and were heavily invested.
However, as a result, the coach’s ideas were often restrained, and many of Nielsen’s innovative strategies weren’t accepted.
At this moment, the situation on the court was highly unfavorable for the Lakers, Gan Guoyang had returned and joined Gilmore to form an inner line Twin Towers.
The Lakers’ defensive attention had dropped, and Gan Guoyang began to receive the ball in the low post and overpower his opponent.
Once Gan Guoyang had the chance to go one-on-one in the low post, it was essentially handing out free points.
With consecutive successful low-post offenses, the Trail Blazers extended their lead to 9 points, prompting Nielsen to call for a timeout.
Both teams transitioned from a high-speed exchange to a more physical showdown.
Jabbar began to attack with the ball in the low post, scoring over Gilmore repeatedly.
Jabbar also drew a defensive foul from Gan Guoyang, heading to the free-throw line and making both shots.
At 41, Jabbar was still a powerful force on offense, able to step up and help the team when points were needed, stabilizing the team with his reliable hook shot, honed over two decades.
During the free throw, Jack Ramsay subbed out Gilmore and brought back Mychal Thompson.
Thompson was having a good night, though occasionally his thoughts drifted off, worried about his wife and children.
The intense contest between both sides persisted throughout the second quarter, with the Trail Blazers steadily keeping the Lakers at bay.
By halftime, the Trail Blazers were leading the Lakers 59:54 by 5 points.
In their usual style of play, the Trail Blazers weren’t much afraid of the Lakers.
Compared to other strong teams of the time, the Trail Blazers had two advantages that were ahead of the League and their time.
One was their three-point shooting, both in the amount they took and their high shooting percentage.
The other was their turnovers, they had the fewest in the League, and it was much lower than average.
More three-pointers meant higher scoring efficiency in offense.
Fewer turnovers meant giving the opponents fewer easy counterattack opportunities in defense.
These two aspects always allowed the Trail Blazers to outperform their opponents in efficiency.
This invisible advantage was due to Bobby Berman’s meticulous mathematical design and the influence of Guoyang’s abhorrence for mistakes on the whole team.
So even if the Trail Blazers’ defensive level had slipped and their players’ mental cohesion wasn’t as strong as before, they were still a step above other teams.
It was as if they wore invisible heels, secretly standing a head taller than their opponents.
During the half-time break in the locker room, Thompson called the hospital and received news that his wife had given birth to a son, smoothly.
When Thompson shared this news with everyone, the Trail Blazers’ locker room erupted with joy, and they rushed to embrace Thompson, congratulating him on becoming a father.
Thompson smiled happily and said, "I hope my child brings us good luck. We have to win this game."
Since entering the playoffs, Thompson’s performance had been improving, and together with Gilmore, they’d been providing Guoyang with increasing support.
Veterans are veterans for a reason; they might slack off during the regular season but come playoffs, they stand out when it’s time to step up.
