The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 623 - 22 Security

The Trail Blazers entered the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, 85:75.

A 10-point lead was not absolutely safe, but with David Robinson forced to sit out due to foul trouble, it became very difficult for the Spurs to turn the game around.

Robinson sat resting on the sideline, and Larry-Brown substituted him with backup center Frank Brickowski.

Last season, without a reliable center, Brickowski was one of the few options for the Spurs’ frontcourt, averaging 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

It was with the Spurs that his performance significantly improved because there were no other centers available.

In ’87, Brickowski had played a season with the Lakers, when West had intended to use him as a substitute for Kurt Rambis.

Of course, the result was the same; he was sent flying by Gan Guoyang.

As a white player in the frontcourt, Brickowski was pretty shifty.

Right after the fourth quarter started, he drew an offensive foul from Gan Guoyang in the paint.

Gan Guoyang pushed inside from the low post, and he just fell backward, prompting the referee’s whistle to blow.

Tonight, the referees were really looking out for the Spurs, marking Gan Guoyang’s third foul.

With the change of possession, Maxwell scored from the outside, followed by the referees calling Porter for two traveling violations.

These three rookie referees seemed to have it in for the Trail Blazers.

With the Trail Blazers’ consecutive fouls and turnovers, the Spurs went on a 6:0 run, narrowing the gap to just 4 points.

Beelman wanted to call a timeout, but Gan Guoyang signaled to wait.

He caught the ball on the right baseline and, before the double team arrived, he pulled up for the shot.

He hit the mid-range jumper, giving the Trail Blazers a sigh of relief.

Gan Guoyang didn’t argue with the referees either; at such a critical moment, he needed to maintain focus.

On defense, Gan Guoyang suddenly struck, teaming up with Mike-Sanders to double-team Elliott.

Elliott was late to pass the ball and tried to draw a foul, but the double-teamed interception by the two players went unpunished by the referees’ whistle. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Sanders stole the ball, as the Trail Blazers’ forward defense remained strong.

On the fast break, Gan Guoyang burst through the middle, received a pass from Sanders, and leaped quickly, making a left-handed slam dunk!

David Robinson tried to chase, but it was too late; he could only watch as Gan Guoyang scored.

The gap widened back to 8 points, and it wasn’t Beelman who called the timeout, but Larry-Brown.

With 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Beelman swapped out the well-performing Sanders and brought in Petrović.

It was a risky substitution at such a crucial moment, bringing on Petrović who had trouble even dribbling past the half-court line in the first half.

A mistake in the backcourt could dissipate the 8-point lead in an instant.

Adelman warned Beelman, "This is risky; we’ve already rotated through 11 players tonight."

Earlier in the regular season, Beelman frequently used an 11-man rotation; as of now, only Mason at the end of the bench hadn’t played yet.

Beelman said, "I know, but it’s these kinds of games that give the players valuable experience. Just getting garbage time minutes is meaningless."

"What if we lose?"

"Lose? If we lose, it’s Ah Gan’s fault. He’s the team leader. If we don’t blame him, who should we blame?"

Beelman spoke confidently; as long as Gan Guoyang was on the team, any loss could be blamed on him.

Adelman heard this and felt it made sense, so he didn’t voice any further opinions.

Indeed, with Gan Guoyang as a safety net, it allowed other players to have more opportunities to train.

Otherwise, they would still rely on last season’s starting lineup, and who knows how far they could go in the new season.

Sabonis and Petrović were on the court during the critical moments.

The Trail Blazers used a lineup of Sabonis, Petrović, Gan Guoyang, Kossie, and Hornacek.

Porter and Sanders were subbed out for a brief rest, with the responsibility of ball-handling falling back onto Petrović.

He had been tightly guarded by Wingate in the first half, causing several turnovers; it wasn’t possible that his resistance to pressure suddenly improved in the second half.

However, Petrović was smart, and he knew he had teammates to rely on, to draw on their strength.

After the Spurs’ timeout, David Robinson returned to the game.

Through an exterior pass, Cheeks got the opportunity for a mid-range shot from the left corner and made it.

89:83, the gap closed to 6 points.

Petrović advanced the ball, calling Sabonis for a screen, and used Sabonis’s massive frame to block off the defender.

He then sped past half-court and slashed through the middle, again coordinating a pick and roll with Gan Guoyang, drew Robinson’s defensive attention to the basket, and dished a bounce pass to the following Gan Guoyang, who easily dunked the ball.

The Spurs attempted a full-court press to disrupt the Trail Blazers’ offense but didn’t expect Petrović to consistently use screens to penetrate the Spurs’ defense, leading to an easy score.

91:83, the margin was still 8 points.

The handling of the ball was quite beautiful, Larry-Brown, furious on the sideline, began to yell again, accusing his players of lacking concentration in defense.

In Brown’s eyes, Cheeks’s defense was nowhere near his peak level at the Philadelphia 76ers, and at 33, the former all-defense guard could no longer match his previous intensity.

Neither team scored in the following few possessions; the defensive intensity on both sides was high, and Gan Guoyang missed two attempts from beyond the arc.

However, Petrović and Sabonis held their ground defensively, and Gan Guoyang constantly directed them from behind, instructing them how to position and who to mark.

The Trail Blazers’ backcourt duo struggled with defending the perimeter, but with Sabonis handling Robinson under the basket, Gan Guoyang could extend to help the defense.

With Gan Guoyang present, Petrović and Hornacek could play tight defense, knowing that a misplaced step wouldn’t matter; the intensity was dialed up with backup behind them.

Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang kept an eye on Terry Cummings, even rejecting him with a massive block during defense.

Cummings was left to settle for mid-range jumpers, but his shooting was clearly off at that moment.

The game entered a crucial 4 minutes; Beelman called a timeout, subbing out Petrović and Sabonis for Porter and Thompson.

When crunch time came, it was back to the main lineup to finish off the game.

As play resumed, the scoreless Trail Blazers passed the ball to Gan Guoyang.

David Robinson bodied up from behind, with Cummings coming over for a double team.

Gan Guoyang dribbled back out, before a piercing pass inside.

The pass was risky; the Spurs’ defense was rotating well and nearly intercepted it.

But thanks to the years of chemistry between Thompson and Gan Guoyang, Thompson got to the ball first, turning and sinking a layup for two points.

The lead was back to 10 points.

On the Spurs’ end, Robinson didn’t dare to go one-on-one against Gan Guoyang.

After receiving the ball at the high post, he passed to Maxwell.

Maxwell drove, then kicked it to the cutting Robinson, who crashed towards the basket. Gan Guoyang stepped aside, allowing Robinson to score.

He knew with tonight’s officiating, any obstruction would be called as a foul.

Yet Robinson’s bank shot didn’t go in; Cummings snatched the offensive rebound and scored on the putback.

Robinson needed to improve his finishing ability; he often rushed inside but if a dunk wasn’t possible, he’d awkwardly bank it with his left hand, lacking a more delicate touch to finish.

The Spurs fought hard and stopped another Trail Blazers’ offense. On a counterattack, Cheeks drilled in, then out to Robinson.

Robinson drove to the basket but had his shot blocked by Gan Guoyang; seizing the ball, he charged again and scored off the glass.

The kid’s impacting force was truly strong, and his aggressive playing style suited him—it reminded Gan Guoyang of his own early days in the league, spearheading through the middle.

Now, Gan Guoyang avoided the middle drive, playing in a calmer manner, demonstrating the poise of a general.

On defense, he refrained from reaching in too easily, to prevent fouls from sending him to the bench.

Receiving the ball at the corner, the Trail Blazers disoriented the Spurs’ defense with misdirection runs.

Suddenly, Gan Guoyang pulled up for a mid-range jumper and sank it for two points.

Robinson didn’t even react in time as the ball was already launched, then accurately dropped into the net.

Gan Guoyang had amassed 39 points, highly efficient as usual, and stepping up to score at critical moments.

Time ticked away second by second; the margin hovered around 8 points, and the Spurs became increasingly frantic.

Now, with the game winding down, the referees blew their whistles less often; the Trail Blazers tightened their defense, allowing the Spurs outside shooting opportunities, which they failed to convert.

The high-intensity game-wide defense impacted the players’ offensive stamina, and their shooting accuracy decreased.

The Trail Blazers, due to their 11-man rotation, had plenty of energy for the main lineup and moved around the court with ease.

If the Spurs didn’t score, the Trail Blazers could afford to run down the clock and throw a shot, hitting or missing was of less consequence.

When the Spurs scored, Gan Guoyang received the ball, swinging it across the court to the weak side, with Kossie connecting on the mid-range shot.

The lead was still at 8 points.

As the game reached its final stages, time seemed to move faster, while the Spurs’ hopes for victory dimmed.

Elliott’s forceful shot didn’t even touch the rim, bouncing off the board and back out.

The referee called him for an offensive foul as well, having collided with Kossie.

Then, after a pick-and-roll, Gan Guoyang received the ball, drove towards the basket, changed direction early to get past Robinson, and then slammed a two-handed dunk!

points, the Trail Blazers ahead 101:93, leading by 8 points with just over 40 seconds left. The outcome was clear.

In the end, Cheeks hit a mid-range, but it had no impact on the situation.

The Trail Blazers claimed a hard-fought, high-quality 101:95 victory.

The team’s rookies experienced firsthand what it’s like to have a real superstar, the team leader.

Someone who can lead you to victory, and if you lose, he’s there to take the blame—playing alongside him breeds a sense of security.