The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 557 - 57: The Most Intense Match Part 3
However, as soon as the second half of the game began, the situation on the court changed dramatically.
Gan Guoyang attempted a mid-range shot at the start of the third quarter but missed.
Then Magic Johnson led his team in a fierce counterattack.
"Magic has the ball, drives down the middle, faces Ah Gan’s defense, a right-handed floater! It’s good!"
"The referee blows the whistle, calling a foul on Ah Gan, that’s his third foul."
"Magic makes the free throw."
"Cooper steals, Magic on the fast break! No-look pass! AC Green with the dunk!"
In the second half, Nielsen made an adjustment, starting Michael Cooper in place of Byron Scott.
The move paid off, Cooper stole the ball from Porter and the Lakers scored on the counter.
"Drexler’s shot doesn’t go, Jabbar grabs the defensive rebound, long pass to Magic, who sends it directly to Worthy, Worthy dunks, and the Lakers take the lead!!"
In just two minutes of explosive play in the second half, Magic and the Lakers suddenly turned the game around.
A 7:0 run changed the score to 59:60, and the Lakers suddenly took the lead.
Jack Ramsay immediately called a timeout, the rapid shift in momentum was truly dizzying.
Johnson led a tempestuous attack, and it seemed the Trail Blazers hadn’t yet adjusted from the first-half pace, while the Lakers had already accelerated and left the Trail Blazers behind.
The Trail Blazers players were caught off guard, but they quickly regrouped.
After the timeout, Gan Guoyang caught the ball at the 45-degree angle and, after drawing the defense, slipped a pass inside to Thompson.
Thompson received the ball and scored, also drawing a foul from AC Green!
The man who had just become a father was different; even his layup was full of power.
The free throw was good, 62:60, Trail Blazers regained the lead.
Then the game became a tug-of-war, with Magic’s passes, Jabbar’s skyhook, Worthy’s low post turn-around jumper, Cooper’s three-pointer.
Gan Guoyang’s mid-range, spin jump shot, Drexler’s drive and layup, Porter’s pull-up jumper, Jerome Kossie’s offensive rebound.
Players from both teams were contributing their proudest skills with 120 percent effort, getting caught up in fierce combat.
The intensity of the game’s defense reached its peak in the third quarter, and courtside spectators could hear the fierce sounds of physical confrontation.
In the high-speed collisions, one careless move could send a player flying out of bounds.
The floor squeaked under the pressure of footsteps, and the dangerous scent of male hormones permeated the air.
The players’ actions grew bolder and referee Earl Strom’s whistle blew more and more frequently.
There was lots of pushing and shoving under the basket, not to mention the sneaky moves.
The Trail Blazers were a fairly honorable team, rarely resorting to dirty tricks.
At the same time, Ah Gan had always been the guardian of the team, ensuring that everyone played fair and didn’t stoop to foul play.
But in moments like these, no one cared anymore, and the Lakers players couldn’t afford to worry about that.
If it meant getting beat up, so be it, as long as they could take down Ah Gan, it would be worth it.
James Edwards and Gan Guoyang nearly came to blows under the basket.
Edwards inserted his hand under Gan Guoyang’s arm, trying to prevent Gan from raising his arm.
Gan Guoyang simply trapped Edwards’s arm and with a back body drop, flung Edwards out of bounds!
The referee hurriedly blew the whistle, and the fans on site got excited, shouting, "Throw him out, throw him out!"
But Earl Strom didn’t do that; he just gave Gan Guoyang a technical foul.
"Don’t do that, Ah Gan, you’ll get thrown out."
"I know what I’m doing, if he tries to clamp my arm again, I’ll twist his arm off." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Edwards got up with the help of his teammates, but soon realized his arm was twisted and had to retreat to the locker room for rest.
Boos filled the air, and Don Nelson shouted at Earl Strom, insisting that Ah Gan should be ejected for that play.
Strom gestured dismissively, saying it was a normal physical confrontation, not a malicious hit, and moreover, it was James Edwards who committed the foul first.
Nelson was visibly upset, but he dared not say more.
Last season in the playoffs, during a critical game, Nelson had shouted at Strom which resulted in him getting ejected from the game.
Eventually, the Bucks lost the series.
At that time, Nelson nearly came to blows with Strom.
Nelson tried his best to keep his emotions in check, as this game was too important to lose.
The game had gradually shifted from a contest of wits and tactics to a test of physical endurance and willpower.
Basketball is always like this; initially, everyone focuses on tactical skill, but as the game goes on, even the coaches don’t know what they’re playing anymore.
So the players start relying on their on-the-spot condition, personal skills, wits, and a bit of luck.
From the third quarter to the fourth, the crushing comeback the Lakers fans had been waiting for just didn’t happen; they couldn’t truly turn the tide.
Every time the Lakers had a decent offensive run and it looked like they were going to widen the lead, they were immediately suppressed by a sharp counterattack from the Trail Blazers.
The Lakers wanted to capitalize on fast breaks but the Trail Blazers rarely made mistakes, and with a three-pointer here and there, they managed to keep leading the score.
At the end of a long and intense third quarter, the Trail Blazers were leading 88:84, a solid 4-point lead over the Lakers, firmly suppressing the opponents.
Everyone from the Lakers, from the players to the fans, felt anxious as they couldn’t get ahead, like they were struggling to breathe underwater.
By the fourth quarter, the game was no longer just intense, it had turned bloody.
AC Green, during an offensive, elbowed Jerome Kossie right in the eyebrow, causing blood to stream down his face.
Green didn’t do it on purpose, but in the midst of intense play, actions were indeed getting rougher.
Two minutes later, a hard charge from Gilmore sent AC Green flying out of bounds.
The two teams were close to an altercation, and now experienced, the referees managed the situation; one ref controlled the crowd, and another ref handled Ah Gan.
Strom grabbed onto Ah Gan and said, "Don’t lose your cool, play the game properly, or I’ll have to eject you!"
Ah Gan replied, "I don’t want to fight, stay cool Earl, stay cool!"
When even Gan Guoyang was telling the referee to calm down, it spoke volumes about how heated the game had gotten.
At that moment, the Trail Blazers made two defensive mistakes, with Porter double-teaming Johnson in the middle twice.
As a result, Johnson passed the ball to Cooper on the wing, and Cooper didn’t hesitate to shoot from the three-point line, making both shots!
This wasn’t a major mistake; Cooper’s three-pointers were worth the risk, but Cooper made them.
The Lakers scored 6 consecutive points, once again taking the lead!
The Great Western Forum erupted in cheer, with Lakers fans seeing the first light of a potential turnaround.
90:92, the Lakers were leading by two points, and the Trail Blazers immediately called a timeout.
Sitting on the bench, the players were gasping for air, the intense physical play, the rapid pace of the game, and the immense psychological pressure had taken a significant toll on their stamina.
Gan Guoyang was continuously drinking water.
Fatigue made it hard to concentrate; out of ten things the coach said, players might miss eight of them.
Ramsay knew this, so he didn’t make any complicated arrangements; he just asked them to stick to man-to-man marking, and to stop double-teaming at random.
On offense, he had just one directive, "Try to get the ball to Ah Gan!"
At times like these, Gan Guoyang was still the most reliable one.
Under Jack Ramsay’s four years of mentoring, he had transcended himself.
He was no longer hesitant, no longer indecisive, no longer restrained by basketball thought.
In the most intense moments of the game, he knew to give the ball to the best man!
