The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 264 Raging Fire
In the 1985-1986 season, the NBA only scheduled two Christmas Day games.

The Boston Celtics will face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, while the Los Angeles Clippers will take on the Portland Trail Blazers at Memorial Stadium.

It's common for the Knicks to play Christmas Day games, after all, the first Christmas Day game in history was held at Madison Square Garden, with the Knicks facing the Providence Steamrollers.

The Steamroller team is gone now, but the Knicks are still playing Christmas Day games. Even though they have a terrible record this year and are plagued by injuries, tickets for Madison Square Garden are still selling very well because of Ewing.

The team's season ticket sales nearly doubled, rising from 5700 last season to 11000, demonstrating the significant impact of star players.

Moreover, after the initial adjustment period at the beginning of the season, Ewing's performance fully justifies his status as the number one draft pick.

However, the Celtics really didn't want to play this Christmas Day game. Everyone else was on holiday for Christmas, but they had to leave Boston to play in New York.

The players spent Christmas Eve with their families, and the next morning they delivered Christmas presents to their children. After lunch, they drove themselves to New York for the game.

To allow players more time with their families, the Celtics did not travel to New York as a team. Instead, each player traveled separately, met at Madison Square Garden for the game, and then went home afterward.

Fortunately, Boston is relatively close to New York. Last year, the Houston Rockets went to Portland for the Christmas Day game, but they encountered heavy snow and couldn't get back, and they lost the game. They were so frustrated they wanted to die.

However, the Portland Trail Blazers, who can play at home, also don't want to play a Christmas Day game. This is the league's way of favoring the Blazers, making it the ninth consecutive year that they have played a Christmas Day game.

But the Trail Blazers players really don't want to be favored. The Trail Blazers' tickets are already sold out enough, and they're always sold out anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's a Christmas Day game or not.

Mitchell Thompson was particularly angry because he had played in Christmas Day games every year since he joined the Trail Blazers in 1978, and had never been able to spend time with his family and friends.

Gan Guoyang was equally unhappy. Playing the Christmas game meant he couldn't go back to San Francisco for Thurmond's Christmas party again this year, and he missed Thurmond's signature barbecue terribly.

Moreover, you arranged a formidable opponent, but instead you chose the Los Angeles Clippers. It's clear that you're not favoring the Trail Blazers but the Clippers, trying to boost the Clippers' popularity.

The Trail Blazers seemed listless against the Clippers, who had just completed a trade, sending away Tpin and acquiring Longfield. The team would then have to make adjustments to its tactics and rotations.

However, when the players stepped onto the court, they were still in high spirits and actively engaged in the game. After all, the Trail Blazers had the Christmas Day buff, making them incredibly strong during the Christmas season.

The Clippers, who had traveled a long way, also complained about the Christmas Day game. In December, Portland is in the rainy and snowy season, cold and wet. No one would be happy to leave the warm Los Angeles during the holidays and go to Portland to get beaten up.

As expected, the Trail Blazers took an early lead in the first quarter, with Gan Guoyang and Vandeweghe competing to see who could shoot more accurately, both firing away from beyond the arc.

The two even made consecutive three-pointers, forcing Ramsey to call a timeout and tell them to stop shooting recklessly, or he would bench them and put them in jail.

The Trail Blazers took an early lead, and in the second and third quarters, they executed beautiful half-court sets and fast breaks, tearing apart the Los Angeles Clippers' defense.

It was a Christmas Day game with no suspense whatsoever. The Clippers clearly didn't make any special preparations or strategies; they came to Portland to get beaten and die, so they lost decisively.

The Trail Blazers scored over 140 points, with all 12 players on the court. Eight players scored in double figures, with Gan Guoyang leading the way with 37 points and Vandeweghe adding 26.

The Trail Blazers played too aggressively, and the Clippers were not strong enough, resulting in poor viewership for the Christmas Day game. In addition, the team protested to the league, asking if Christmas Day games could be stopped, as the players wanted to spend the holiday with their families.

Thus, the Trail Blazers' nine-year streak of playing games on Christmas Day came to an end. Next season, they will no longer be scheduled to play on Christmas Day and can enjoy the holiday.

On the contrary, the Christmas Day game between the Celtics and the Knicks turned out to be a classic, with the powerful Celtics taking an early 16-point lead in the first half.

Just when everyone thought it would be another boring one-sided game, the Knicks, playing at home, started their comeback in the third quarter, keeping the score close and slowly closing the gap.

The Knicks outscored the Celtics 33-23 in the fourth quarter, forcing overtime. Then came a second overtime, and the Celtics finally couldn't hold on any longer.

They only managed 7 points in the second overtime, while the Knicks scored 16. Ewing scored 32 points in total, leaving Robert Parish frustrated and forced to leave the game.

The Knicks completed a remarkable comeback, defeating the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics in double overtime, bringing the Celtics' record to 21 wins and 7 losses.

Like last year's Lakers, they had a painful summer and were expected to have a breakout season, but the result was disappointing.

The departure of Maxwell, the integration issues with Marquese Johnson, and Bird's increasingly serious back injury are all testing this team.

When they returned to the locker room after losing the game, Bird said, "If we can't even handle Ewing, how are we going to handle Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Forrest Gump?" However, regular season defeats are sometimes a good thing, like a shot in the arm or a bucket of cold water, making the team more sober and more united to move towards their goal.

After this game, the Celtics embarked on an 18-game winning streak; even the most resilient team must be reborn from the ashes.

The Trail Blazers will also encounter their blazing fire.

The last two games in December were the Trail Blazers' last two home games of 1985.

The Phoenix Suns are visiting; as their division rivals in the Pacific Division, they play six games a season.

This is not a difficult game for the Trail Blazers, as the Suns are mired in a deep slump.

The nine-game losing streak at the start of the season set the tone for the entire team, and everyone from top to bottom knew that the season was over.

Walter Davis was not in the starting lineup tonight; in fact, he wasn't even on the team's roster.

He is currently undergoing treatment at a drug rehabilitation center in Phoenix, while the Suns have announced that Davis is injured and out of the game.

Without Davis, the Suns were no match for the Trail Blazers. Even with the return of Larry Nance and Edwards, they were completely unable to stop the onslaught of the three big men.

The Suns' three tall players were incredibly efficient in half-court offense, scoring in the low post, dominating from the top of the key, and making putbacks on second-chance opportunities. The three formed a perfect offensive loop, and with the addition of players like Vandeweghe, Paxson, and Drexler on the perimeter, the Suns were no match for them.

The Portlanders just need to step up their game at key moments in each quarter to take the lead, and then relax and play at their own pace.

In the next quarter, continue with a high-efficiency offensive to widen the gap, and then let the opponent catch up and keep the score close. This kind of rhythm change and control will make the opponent very, very tired.

Already lacking a key player and with low morale, the Suns couldn't withstand such pressure. They surrendered after three quarters, and the Trail Blazers easily defeated the Suns at home.

Their record has reached an astonishing 30 wins and 3 losses, and they look like they're heading towards 70 wins.

Major media outlets and newspapers have finally begun to extensively discuss the Trail Blazers' amazing performance this season, inevitably bringing up the painful memories of 1978.

Therefore, the entire Trail Blazers team, especially Ramsey and Walton, kept a low profile when facing the media and were unwilling to compare the past with the present.

On December 31, the last day of 1985, the Trail Blazers played their last home game of the year against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Tickets for the Memorial Arena sold out again, making it even more certain than when the Celtics won their eighth consecutive championship – a foregone conclusion.

But the game was full of suspense. The Trail Blazers led by 17 points in the first half, but were reversed by the Bucks in the second half.

The Bucks found the Trail Blazers' weakness in their three tall players – speed – and exploited it to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Furthermore, the Bucks seemed to know the characteristics of the Trail Blazers' key tactics and made very targeted arrangements in the final stages of the fourth quarter.

As a result, the Trail Blazers committed three turnovers, two were stolen from the court, and one pass went out of bounds, allowing the Bucks to go on a 7-0 run and widen the gap.

Ultimately, the Trail Blazers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 112-105 in their final game of 1985, ending their winning streak.

Gan Guoyang scored 29 points in total. His shooting percentage was average tonight, making only 8 of 21 shots. Most importantly, his defense was clearly hampered by a lack of effective play.

The Bucks had a clear understanding of the Trail Blazers' tactics and strategies, and their tactics and rotations were very targeted, especially in their backcourt: Moncrief, Paul Plessy, and Rich Pierce.

Facing the Trail Blazers' three tall players, while other teams were trying their best to stack up their frontcourt, Bucks coach Don Nelson creatively used a three-guard strategy, which surprisingly worked.

As Gan Guoyang left the memorial stadium, he glanced at the Bucks' bench, where Don Nelson was shaking hands with a familiar figure: Stu Inman.

After leaving the Trail Blazers, he is now the Bucks' Director of Player Personnel, and Inman knows almost everything about the Trail Blazers.

(End of this chapter)