The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 299 Rescue
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4 in the Kiev region of the Soviet Union exploded due to worker error, releasing eight tons of highly radioactive material. The radiation dose was equivalent to 400 Hiroshima atomic bombs.

Gan Guoyang witnessed this momentous historical event on television, just one day before the start of the Western Conference semifinals.

On April 23, three days earlier, the Portland Trail Blazers easily defeated the San Antonio Spurs 114-98 on the road, sweeping their opponents 3-0 and advancing to the second round.

In the 80s, when there was a significant gap in individual team strength, upsets in the first round were rare. Moreover, the Trail Blazers were in excellent form, while the Spurs had lost all motivation. Wouldn't it have been better to just lose early and go home to fish?
After losing the series without any suspense, Fitzsimmons' tenure as head coach of the Spurs came to an end. He quickly announced his resignation, and the Spurs entered a rebuilding cycle. They needed new core players and a new coaching staff to build a new team.

The Trail Blazers await the outcome of their match, with the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets tied 2-2, forcing a decisive Game 5.

The Trail Blazers aren't too concerned about who their opponents are, as both teams were defeated by them last season.

Moreover, neither team has significantly improved in strength compared to last season, and the Nuggets have even declined slightly. Due to Dan Isell's retirement, Calvin Knight, who averaged 23.3 points per game last season, is not in the same form as before, dropping from an All-Star level to an average of 17 points per game, and is now just an ordinary starter.

After all, Knight's height is a major weakness as an inside player. At 6'6", he is the height of a guard. When his playing style is countered by opponents, he naturally can't dominate like he did when he first came to the Nuggets.

Therefore, the Trail Blazers' training atmosphere was relatively relaxed. Jack Ramsey's biggest concern was not the players' condition, but rather that Bill Walton should not cause any trouble by attending the marches and rallies.

In the past two days, due to the Chernobyl disaster, anti-nuclear activists have begun to hold marches and protests in the Portland area, demanding the closure of nuclear power plants in the Oregon region to prevent nuclear contamination.

Therefore, Ramsey demanded that Walton report to the training facility on time every day. Even if he didn't train, he should stay on the field with him, chat, and watch videos. It was better than Walton impulsively going to a rally and causing trouble, which would be troublesome if he got arrested.

Walton listened to Ramsey's advice and reported to the Portland Community College training field at 8:30 every morning during his rest days. By then, Gan Guoyang had already been training on the field for a while and had even changed his clothes.

Quentin Stephenson, who was training alongside Gan Guoyang, was already panting heavily; this job was really tough.

When he had a spare moment, Wharton couldn't help but ask Gan Guoyang what he thought of the Chernobyl incident, saying that if it wasn't handled properly, the whole planet would be affected.

Gan Guoyang said, "The Soviet workers will save you, don't worry."

On April 28, the Nuggets and Mavericks were decided, with the Nuggets, having home-court advantage, defeating the Mavericks at home and meeting the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference semifinals for the second consecutive year.

On April 29th, the other matchup in the Western Conference semifinals kicked off, with the Los Angeles Lakers easily defeating the Houston Rockets 110-119 at home. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored a game-high 31 points against the Rockets' twin towers.

At 39 years old, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar seems determined to prove that he remains the best center in the league and that no one can shake his position.

On April 30, the Trail Blazers will face the Denver Nuggets, led by Doug Mo, at their home arena, Memorial Stadium.

The Trail Blazers, who swept their opponents in the first round, had a full week of rest, while the Nuggets, after finishing the first round, had almost no rest or adjustment before immediately flying to Portland to face their opponents.

The Trail Blazers may seem to have a physical advantage, but playoff form is sometimes very important. Resting for too long is often not a good thing, as it can lead to them becoming complacent.

The Denver Nuggets and the Mavericks have just finished five games, and although they are tired, the players are in good form.

The game between the two teams on the night of the 30th was not as expected, with the Trail Blazers easily defeating the Nuggets.

The cunning Doug Mo once again pulled out all the stops, making Calvin Knight the sixth man off the bench and starting the 7-foot giant Rasmussen.

Rasmussen is this year's rookie and a graduate of Oregon State University.

When Gan Guoyang played for Gonzaga University, he had many matches against Rasmussen.

Although Gan Guoyang could absolutely suppress Rasmussen, Rasmussen also knew Gan Guoyang very well.

He knew how to deal with Gan Guoyang, and how not to provoke him. He wasn't Forrest Gump's killer, but he wasn't easily killed by Forrest Gump.

Of course, Rasmussen's playing time will not be long. Knight will come on during transition periods and key moments, using his scoring ability to create time differences.

A well-planned roster and the players' good form made the Nuggets and Trail Blazers a close contest in the first game.

In last season's semifinals, Doug Mo used clever changes in pace to steal the first game, and then took a 2-1 lead in the series, almost sinking the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers later won the series by winning three straight games, thanks to Gan Guoyang's 60-point outburst and Ramsey's improved strategy.

Through that series, the Trail Blazers players all felt Doug Mo's madness and cunning, and to break through this cunning, Gan Guoyang's choice was to break through head-on!
The two teams battled until the final moments of the fourth quarter, with the Trail Blazers leading the Nuggets 110-110 to tie the game. English received the ball in the middle, faked a shot, drove into the paint, and drew a foul from Walton on his layup.

Walton argued with the referee that there was no foul, but the referee's decision could not be changed. English went to the free-throw line and made both free throws, leaving the Trail Blazers with only 5 seconds.

The Nuggets have taken the lead at 112-110 and have a chance to take the first point.

Ramsey called a timeout to set up the final offensive play. He instructed Gan Guoyang to receive the ball at the 45-degree three-point line and set a handoff fake screen with Vandeweghe and Drexler. "The handoff is fake. You need to drive to the basket yourself from the middle. If you get double-teamed, pass the ball to your teammates on the wing or cutting inside. Time is short. Look for the right opportunity. You can drive to the basket yourself or pass to an open teammate. Beal, you need to be in this position to receive the ball. If you miss, you'll have a putback opportunity. In short, we should try to tie the game and force overtime."

To play it safe, Jack Ramsey didn't implement a three-point play, opting instead for two-pointers to force overtime.

In terms of physical condition and form, the Trail Blazers have the advantage, especially since they are playing at home.

However, Gan Guoyang did not follow Jack Ramsey's instructions at the last moment.

After receiving the ball and setting a fake screen to draw the defense away, Gan Guoyang made a slight adjustment to the defender outside the three-point line and launched a three-pointer!
The shot came very suddenly, without any warning. The Nuggets defender thought Gan Guoyang was going to pass the ball.

Who knew he would shoot it right away, and the ball swished through the net – a three-pointer!

In the end, the Nuggets were given only one second, and they had no more time to pause.

The Nuggets could only throw the ball haphazardly from the backcourt. The game ended with the Trail Blazers winning 112-113 at home, defeating the Nuggets by one point and preventing them from stealing another victory!
Gan Guoyang, who had just scored the winning goal, shouted at the dejected Doug Mo on the bench, "No overtime! No overtime!"

The memorial stadium erupted in cheers. Back in the locker room, Ramsey wasn't angry that Gan Guoyang had changed his mind. Instead, he said, "You can be the coach from now on. Anyway, you don't listen to me."

Gan Guoyang took off his sweat-soaked shirt and said with a smile, "You're still very important, otherwise how could we have regained our form in the fourth quarter?"

The Trail Blazers were indeed in a very bad state in the first three quarters. Their biggest problem was their inaccurate shooting. They had really rested too much and couldn't find their offensive rhythm. They were down by 10 points going into the fourth quarter.

Ramsey remained calm in this situation. He changed his tactics, increasing Walton's playing time and letting Walton organize the team's positional play.

Walton was the key player in the team's victory tonight. As a center-point guard, he contributed 8 assists throughout the game.

When his teammates were struggling with their shooting, he helped them regain their rhythm by feeding them accurate passes.

The team withstood the pressure from the Nuggets' desire to speed up the game, and after regaining their form in the fourth quarter, they finally tied the score in the final moments.

Gan Guoyang's game-winning three-pointer brought the game to a perfect close and saved the match.

Gan Guoyang said to Walton, "I told you, the Soviet workers will save you."

Walton added, "If you had shot more accurately earlier, you wouldn't have needed that game-winning shot to save the day!"

Gan Guoyang smiled sheepishly. He had indeed had a rough night, experiencing a "night of the Ugly Ducklings."

He transformed into a Portland blacksmith, yet his shooting percentage was less than 50%, which was truly below par.

Regardless, this game-winning three-pointer thwarted the Nuggets' attempt to steal a win.

Doug Moe doesn't know that if they succeeded in stealing last year but couldn't beat the Trail Blazers, it will be even harder if they fail this year.

On May 1st, in another arena, Los Angeles, the Rockets defeated the Lakers 112-102, a 10-point advantage in the Western Conference.

Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon combined for 11 blocks, limiting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to 9-for-26 shooting (34%).

When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar takes so many shots but can't score efficiently, the Lakers have no chance of beating their opponents.

He struggled under the shadow of the Twin Towers, and Maurice Lucas couldn't offer him enough support.

Lucas had already lost the trust of other players and was detached from the system during the regular season.

5月2号，开拓者107:125在主场狂扫丹佛掘金，大比分2:0领先。

5月4号，休斯顿火箭在主场109:117大胜洛杉矶湖人，奥拉朱旺拿下40分。

The Rockets dominated the Lakers with 20 offensive rebounds, taking a 2-1 lead in the series.

On May 5th, in Colorado, the Trail Blazers defeated the Nuggets 109-97 once again. Gan Guoyang scored 30 points, grabbed 22 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots, giving the Trail Blazers a 3-0 lead in the series.

On May 6th, at Summit Arena, Hakeem Olajuwon scored 35 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots, leading his team to a 95-105 victory and taking a 3-1 lead in the series!

With the Lakers just one game away from elimination, everyone sensed that the Western Conference was about to change dramatically, as if a nuclear power plant had exploded.

(End of this chapter)