The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 325 Portland Night

The Trail Blazers lost Game 2 109-115. This loss was expected, as the Celtics will not allow themselves to lose both home games.

In the battle for tempo in this game, the Celtics prevailed. They kept accelerating, increasing the pace of the game, and double-teaming Gan Guoyang more aggressively, even resorting to fouls.

This forced the Trail Blazers' main offensive focus to Drexler, who was initially able to control the pace, but gradually lost control later on.

After all, speed is his forte, and Drexler will seize any opportunity to quickly advance the attack.

Gan Guoyang continued to make excellent contributions on the defensive end, but the Celtics rose to the challenge, with Kevin McHale and Robert Parish repeatedly attacking the basket and challenging Gan Guoyang's rim protection.

Throughout the game, Gan Guoyang recorded another 8 blocks, but the Celtics also benefited, repeatedly drawing fouls from Gan Guoyang through their attacks.

He had to sit out the second half of the second quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter, with Walton replacing Gan Guoyang. However, Walton was ultimately not as good as Gan Guoyang at protecting the rim.

Bird had a very high shooting percentage tonight. Ramsey didn't let Gan Guoyang guard Bird in the third quarter because he knew it was pointless; Bird's shooting touch had already gotten going.

Bird made 4 of 5 three-pointers, 9 of 17 two-pointers, and 5 of 5 free throws, scoring 35 points. His brilliant performance drove the fans at Boston Garden wild, rendering Gan Guoyang's 40 points meaningless.

Of course, Bird didn't smile after the win. Back in the locker room, he still had a frown on his face. This wasn't the kind of victory he had envisioned.

He hopes the whole team can get going, with multiple players contributing and seven or eight players scoring in double figures, using collective offense to break down the Trail Blazers' defense, rather than him carrying the load alone.

He was really in good form tonight at home. He arrived at Boston Garden two hours early to warm up and get his hands warmed up.

But when playing away games, he can't guarantee that he can score 35 points in every game. His average score in the regular season has dropped to 24 points. Their 68 wins are team wins, not his individual wins.

Forrest Gump remained as consistent and terrifying as ever, an unshakeable force in the paint. His hook shot was even more frightening than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's, as he also possessed a turnaround jumper and a three-pointer.

When the Celtics' interior defense is against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, they can force him to his left, making him use a left-handed hook shot or a turnaround jump shot, which will significantly reduce his success rate.

These defensive strategies were useless against Forrest Gump. Robert Parish was almost completely overwhelmed by Forrest Gump in both games, and Kevin McHale got bogged down in a battle with Thompson.

With only Dennis Johnson and Marquez Johnson available, the Boston Celtics went from a team with a formidable frontcourt to a backcourt-heavy team.

It's because Forrest Gump is on the other side.

Neither team stayed in Boston for long, flying to Portland the following morning and afternoon respectively.

When the Trail Blazers returned to their home turf with a victory, the fans showered them with incredible enthusiasm and support.

At Portland Airport, at least twice the airport's capacity came to greet the crowds. Fans were everywhere, and there were so many that the airport could not function properly.

They waved signs, shouted, screamed, sang, and danced; everyone was in high spirits. A similar scene had occurred once before in 1977.

At that time, their situation was even worse; they were down 0-2 in the series, but the fans were still crazy, and their madness ultimately helped the Trail Blazers reverse the series.

This time the situation is much better. They have regained home-court advantage, and unlike in 1977, all three games of the Finals will be played in Portland.

Finally, escorted by police, the players left the airport, and Gan Guoyang received a hero's welcome in Portland.

On June 5th, the day of the match, when Gan Guoyang got up early to warm up for his run, he found that his neighborhood had become a gathering place for fans.

Many, many people came, including students from Gonzaga University. They camped in the community, streets, and parks, as if they were attending a large music festival.

Because all the hotel rooms in the city are fully booked.

Quentin Stephenson told Gan Guoyang that there were Trail Blazers fans everywhere along the way, from Lake Hill Park to Willamette River, then to downtown, to Paramount Theatre, and then to Memorial Stadium.

Some of them were from Portland, while many others came from all over Oregon. Since Memorial Stadium only has a little over 10,000 seats, most people can't attend the game in person, so they came to Portland to add to the atmosphere of the championship game.

When Gan Guoyang came out of his house, he was like a rock star. Everyone cheered for him and shouted at him.

Gan Guoyang glanced around and saw quite a few women, dressed very scantily. He had no doubt that some of them would be willing to run naked for him—streaking is common in the Oregon area.

Gan Guoyang had to cancel his daily morning run and return home to have breakfast with Wang Fuxi, spending a noisy morning together.

Students, coaches, and teachers from Gonzaga University came to visit, and Gan Guoyang distributed tickets to everyone, all of which were good seats in the front row.

Gonzaga University made it to the NCAA National Championship again this year, only to be eliminated in the first round as usual. However, Bellman's coaching abilities have been recognized. It remains to be seen when he might defect.

Stockton mingled among them; while watching the game, he also sent Gan Guoyang a formal wedding invitation, to be held in Rogue Valley, Oregon, as previously mentioned.

The wedding date was originally scheduled for early June, but it was moved to mid-June because Gan Guoyang had to finish the finals. Gan Guoyang criticized Stockton: "You didn't even expect me to make it to the finals, so setting the wedding date so early is your responsibility."

The players and coaches of the Gonzaga Bulldogs have all received invitations.

Wang Fuxi hosted everyone at her home as the hostess.

Coach Fitz loudly asked Gan Guoyang, "Sonny, when are you planning to get married? Why don't you and John have the wedding after you win the championship?!"

Wang Fuxi was very embarrassed when she heard this. She made an excuse to leave because she had something to do in the kitchen, while Gan Guoyang gave a vague answer, saying, "Let's win the championship first."

“Sonny, you’re incredibly decisive in everything else, so why aren’t you as good as John in this? You’re not the kind of person who can be indecisive,” Bellman asked, speaking with the air of an elder.

“This is a challenge, Mr. Bellman. Why don’t you remarry?” Gan Guoyang asked Bellman in return.

“I’ve married basketball, and I’m loyal to it until death,” Berman said.

Game 3 of the Finals took place at 7 p.m. Pacific Time at Portland Memorial Stadium.

Gan Guoyang and the players had great difficulty getting to the stadium because the nearby streets were packed with people.

Young people who were camping in downtown Portland and parks all gathered near the stadium, even if they couldn't go in to watch the game, they still listened to the radio near the stadium to find out what was going on.

Someone somehow got hold of a television set, plugged it in, turned on the antenna, mounted it on a high platform, and placed it in the crowd to broadcast the final match live.

Outside, it was incredibly lively; inside, it was deafeningly loud. The noise was so intense that people's ears were ringing even before the match started, much more terrifying than the Western Conference Finals.

When the DJ introduced the players, neither team could hear him clearly, and no one knew when they would be on the court. The Celtics players were a bit confused, wondering why it was even noisier than Boston Garden.

When it was the Trail Blazers' turn to take the court, the noise became even louder, so loud that it felt like people's ears had disappeared.

The players went onto the field entirely by instinct, running onto the field whenever they heard the bang; Gan Guoyang was the last one.

Gan Guoyang's appearance brought the atmosphere to a climax. This unimaginable enthusiasm stirred the spirits of every player on the Trail Blazers.

Honestly, even the seasoned Celtics players were shocked; Portlanders are just that crazy about basketball.

In fact, the Celtics have never been very popular in Boston because there are too many professional sports teams in Boston.

They are not even as prestigious as the hockey team at Boston Garden; they can only come to the arena to warm up during the playoffs.

The Trail Blazers are different; they are the apple of the eye of the entire state of Oregon.

Once the game started, the Trail Blazers displayed exceptional offense and defense.

Gan Guoyang is always a player whose attacking power increases when his morale is high.

He never experiences the situation of having high expectations at home only to end up with a mess in his pants.

The Trail Blazers, who had suffered a setback in the previous game, launched a fierce offensive, while the Celtics played like a mediocre college basketball team.

They were undoubtedly intimidated by Portland's overwhelming presence, which affected their performance in the game.

It wasn't until the fourth quarter that the Celtics seemed to wake up and frantically tried to catch up, but it was too late.

A night belonging to the Portlanders: the Trail Blazers defeated the Boston Celtics 105-115 at home.

They have taken a commanding 2-1 lead, bringing them one step closer to the championship.

Portland fans are the most passionate I've ever seen. Compared to them, Boston basketball fans are nothing. And it's said that Portland was almost called Boston in its history.

—Excerpt from Larry Bird's autobiography, *Drive: The Story of My Life*, published in 1989.

(End of this chapter)