The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 134 Never Stop
Gan Guoyang exploded in the third quarter, scoring 20 consecutive points with his individual offensive plays, completely changing the situation on the court.

Riley paid the price for his bad decision, as he had a power forward guarding Gan Guoyang one-on-one for an extended period of time.

Clearly, Gan Guoyang's "restraint" in the latter half of the second quarter led Riley astray, and coupled with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's aversion to endless physical confrontations, Gan Guoyang seized the opportunity to deliver his own "Showtime".

At the end of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers scored 39 points in the quarter, leading the Lakers 94-84 into the fourth quarter.

Gan Guoyang has already scored 38 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks. If it weren't for the collision with Rambis that interrupted his run, his scoring might have continued.

When Gan Guoyang returned to the bench during the break, everyone was silent, looking at him as if he were a god. Even Ramsey didn't say much, just patted Gan Guoyang on the shoulder.

Colter handed Gan Guoyang water and a towel. Gan Guoyang took a sip, wiped his sweat, and said, "I don't want to score in vain to win this game."

Then he told Ramsey, "Don't let me out in the fourth quarter, I'm definitely going to win this game."

Ramsey said nothing more and nodded in agreement. He was now the king of Portland, and no one could disobey him.

Gan Guoyang can accept losing a game when he's in bad form, but he can't stand playing well only to be reversed in the end. He wants to protect his victory.

Seeing that Gan Guoyang remained on the court at the start of the fourth quarter, Riley had no choice but to have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar continue playing as well.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been playing for 30 minutes and is feeling slightly tired; he actually needs to rest.

In 1982, at the age of 35, his playing time began to drop significantly, and he never played more than 35 minutes again.

He is no longer the young man who could play an average of 44 minutes per game, while Gan Guoyang is at the age where he can play 48 minutes without rest.

Gan Guoyang adhered to the defensive principle of his mentor, Nate Thurmond: when I'm sweating profusely, I'll make you sweat even more than I do.

Magic Johnson attempted a final comeback in the fourth quarter, but the Trail Blazers, with their high morale and united teamwork, gave the Lakers no further chances.

When Paxson received the ball under the basket twice in a row and made layups, Pat Riley knew in his heart that the Lakers had collapsed tonight.

From defense to offense, they were shattered by Gan Guoyang's powerful offensive. Tactically and mentally, they were not prepared to meet the onslaught of this young giant.

Their eyes were all on Boston in the far northeast. Worthy Wilkes' small forward duo was prepared for Bird, and Scott used Dennis Johnson to keep him from paying attention to Magic Johnson.

But with six months to go before the finals, everything has to start from scratch.

The Lakers had reached the NBA Finals four times in the previous five seasons, and the only time they lost was due to internal strife within the team.

They have no rivals in the West and are the undisputed kings of the West.

In five years in the Western Conference, they only lost 10 playoff games, averaging two per year.

But this game made Riley realize that a new force was rising.

They should focus more on the present and not be overly ambitious about the finals.

If things continue like this, they won't even have a chance to face the Celtics in the Finals.

Gan Guoyang led the Trail Blazers players to withstand the Lakers' final comeback in the fourth quarter.

He didn't give the Lakers a chance to pull off a miraculous comeback; the foundation he laid in the third quarter was very solid.

The Lakers faced many problems: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's fatigue, Rambis's departure from the game, Worthy's foul trouble, and Wilkes' poor shooting touch due to inconsistent playing time.

Riley still has a lot of problems to deal with.

The Trail Blazers ultimately defeated the Lakers 121-110 on the road, securing their fifth consecutive win of the season.

Back in the locker room, Gan Guoyang asked Ramsey, "Is this our best start in recent years?"

Ramsey shook his head and said, "No, we started 1981 with a 7-game winning streak."

Gan Guoyang said with frustration, "Fuck, we used to be pretty strong. I should have gone to a worse team."

Ramsey said, "But this winning streak is the most impressive. We have won three consecutive away games, and four of our five games are away. In 1981, we only had one away game out of seven."

"I like playing away games, but the arena was a little quiet today, which wasn't what I expected."

As he said this, Gan Guoyang took a towel and went into the shower room to take a shower, leaving a large group of reporters waiting at the entrance of the changing room.

The game was indeed different from what Gan Guoyang had expected. When he was running at the Great Western Forum stadium that morning, he was thinking about the cheers from the crowd.

It wasn't until the game started that he realized this wasn't a college game, it was an away game, and when he played well, the arena would be completely silent. The subsequent press interviews were anything but silent; Gan Guoyang had scored 42 points and grabbed 19 rebounds that night. The last person to have performed like that in the Great Western Forum was Moses Malone.

In a 1982 away game against the Lakers, he scored 39 points and grabbed 17 rebounds with an 83% field goal percentage.

However, the Rockets lost the game, and Malone was the MVP that year, while Gan Guoyang was just a rookie who played five games.

After Michael Jackson left the arena midway through the game, Gan Guoyang became the most prominent star.

He calmly answered the reporters' questions, saying that it was just a regular season game and the Lakers hadn't played their full potential.

He also apologized to Kirk Rambis for accidentally knocking him unconscious with an elbow and hoped he was alright.

In this competition, Gan Guoyang displayed his physique like a wild bull. Having been influenced by the fitness spirit of later generations, he demonstrated the power of his strength in the 80s when scientific strength training was not yet widespread.

His natural strength was far beyond that of ordinary people, and with years of consistent training, his impact was as formidable as, or even more so than, that of a running back in rugby.

When Pat Riley mentioned Gan Guoyang in the post-match interview, he was silent for a while. He then scratched his hairline as usual and said, "I see the rise of new forces. Perhaps we, as the old guard, should consider stepping down."

The reporters burst into laughter, knowing Riley was joking, but Riley didn't laugh.

He said that on purpose to provoke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was completely outmatched by Gan Guoyang tonight.

It's not just about his performance on the field, but also his mental fortitude. Riley knows that 37-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is often no different from an 8-year-old child.

He's very emotional and needs you to engage him, encourage him, and occasionally provoke him. Riley is good at doing that.

Despite the loss, Johnson didn't invite Gan Guoyang to his party; he canceled their previous appointment and decided to spend the night at the arena.

Rambis went to the hospital for a check-up and appeared to have a mild concussion, but the Lakers, who were struggling with their record, did not give him a chance to rest and continued to train and play.

Gan Guoyang's outstanding performance caused another sensation in the Chinese community in Los Angeles, and Chinatown held a celebration, making it a noisy night.

When Gan Guoyang returned to the hotel that evening, he found the door stuffed with phone slips and several photos of sexy women with phone numbers written on the back.

Gan Guoyang distributed them all to his teammates, especially Drexler, who gave him a few extra cards. He knew that the guy liked beautiful women and enjoyed dating young girls.

All he wanted to do was sit in his dark hotel room, close his eyes, and meditate on everything that had happened in tonight's match, every detail, the good and the bad.

Dr. Ogilvy says that doing this helps deepen your competition experience, while Gan Guoyang simply feels that doing it brings him peace of mind.

After the clamor comes silence, and a resounding victory is merely a small, insignificant step on the long journey.

The next morning, the entire Trail Blazers team boarded a plane and left Los Angeles for Portland, ending their short road trip.

Gan Guoyang's performance caused some ripples in the basketball community. After all, his 42 points, 19 rebounds, and 20 consecutive points in the third quarter, which dominated the Lakers, were outstanding.

However, the game was not broadcast nationwide and was only shown on local television stations. Apart from the fans at the stadium and those watching on TV, most fans did not get to see Gan Guoyang's brilliant performance. For most people, 42 points and 19 rebounds were just a series of numbers.

CBS doesn't broadcast the results of a regular season game, nor do they release game highlights; there's no such thing.

There is no video footage of Gan Guoyang's powerful dunk at the start of the game. Many years later, a spectator uploaded a video of the game recorded on a home video camera to the internet, allowing people to appreciate this remarkable victory.

甘国阳的42分创造了84届新秀的得分记录，不过10天后，迈克尔-乔丹就用一场45分10个篮板4助攻3抢断2盖帽的比赛超越了阿甘。

After resting at home for a day, on November 6th, when Gan Guoyang stood on the court of the Memorial Stadium to face the Phoenix Suns again, the brilliance of the game on the 4th had vanished completely in the darkness, like fireworks that had been extinguished.

The packed schedule of professional sports doesn't give you much time to reminisce. One game after another, fans want to see new matchups, and the league wants to sell more tickets.

The Portland Trail Blazers, riding high on momentum, did not disappoint their Portland fans, securing a resounding 112-96 victory at home.

McLeod learned his lesson and stopped using three tall players, starting Kyle Messi instead, only to find that the loss was even more crushing...

That's how basketball is; following a set pattern blindly and trying to fix things after they've gone wrong is often ineffective because every game presents new challenges.

After this game, the Trail Blazers flew to Denver without a break, and the exhausted Trail Blazers faced the Nuggets on the high plateau.

The game was extremely tough, with both sides battling until the very last moment. The Trail Blazers, relying on Gan Guoyang's crucial offensive rebound and assist to Thompson for a layup, defeated the Nuggets 124-123, securing their seventh consecutive victory.

However, the Trail Blazers team reached their physical and mental limits. After a bloody battle at high altitude on the 8th, the team got up at 4 am on the 9th to catch the 6 am flight, flew back to Portland at noon, and then faced the Lakers at home in the evening.

Just five days later, in their second game, the Lakers, having adjusted their strategy, narrowly defeated the Trail Blazers 126-123 at Memorial Arena, ending the Trail Blazers' winning streak.

(End of this chapter)