The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 424 Using Speed ​​to Counter Speed
The match between the two teams officially began at 7:30 p.m.

Since Gan Guoyang entered the league, the Lakers have been their number one rival in the West.

Both sides studied each other extensively and became so familiar with one another that they couldn't be more familiar with each other.

Before the match, neither team needed any motivational talk; everyone was serious and focused on the game.

Drexler and Magic Johnson have a good personal relationship, and he is one of the few non-Lakers players who would be invited to Magic's Castle party.

During the regular season, Drexler would always shake hands and hug Magic Johnson, exchanging greetings.

But tonight, Drexler, who usually wears a smile, looked serious and didn't even glance at Johnson.

The same goes for Johnson.

Both sides started this series with the mindset of killing the other.

The Los Angeles Times even claimed that whoever wins this series will be the NBA champion.

Eastern Conference teams will not be a match for the two Western Conference powerhouses.

The Great Western Forum arena was bustling with noise as Gan Guoyang and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stood in the center circle, ready for the jump ball.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's hair is thinning so much that he is almost bald.

At the beginning of the season, he still had some loose hair on his forehead, but after half a year, he was completely bald.

At other times, Gan Guoyang would inevitably tease Jabbar, making fun of his bald head.

Now things are different. Gan Guoyang chews his gum in silence, having already begun to immerse himself in the competition.

He cleared away all distractions unrelated to the competition, and he didn't care how loudly the audience shouted.

jump ball.

Gan Guoyang jumped up suddenly, touched the ball first, and passed it to Thompson.

The game began, and the Trail Blazers launched the first attack.

On the very first basket, Gan Guoyang received the ball in the low post on the right side and made a turnaround jump shot!

He scored the first point of the series with a quick turn and a decisive shot.

There's absolutely no need to test the waters when playing against the Lakers. For example, you can let your teammates score a few points at the start while you take control later.

Or they could run a few plays to warm up the team, but that's unnecessary, completely unnecessary, and it's disrespectful to the Lakers.

Bobby Bellman told Gan Guoyang to attack from the start, not to hesitate, and to get his hands warmed up as quickly as possible.

Johnson's drive was quick and powerful. After dribbling past half-court, he faced Drexler's defense and took a mid-range shot from the right 45-degree angle, but missed.

The Trail Blazers launched a counterattack, with Terry Porter dribbling up the court. The Lakers' defensive formation was well-organized, but they were clearly collapsing inside.

Porter opted to take the shot himself, but missed. However, Gan Guoyang grabbed the offensive rebound in the paint and scored on the putback!

"Shet!"

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar cursed after Gan Guoyang grabbed an offensive rebound.

He wasn't criticizing Gan Guoyang, but rather himself for failing to secure his position.

Actually, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had already been stopped, but Gan Guoyang was very quick tonight.

His attention was focused, and his entire body's neural recruitment capacity reached its peak.

Johnson knew the team needed to score, so he dribbled the ball across half-court and used his rhythm to drive straight to the basket!

As a result, his layup was interfered with by Mitchell Thompson and missed, and AC Green followed up with a dunk!
But the ball bounced off the rim and flew out of bounds, and Vandeweghe squeezed past Worthy to steal the ball.

Vandeweghe is much stronger than last season, and his rebounding has reached the peak of his career.

The two sides started quickly and seemed somewhat disorganized, but this was actually because they knew each other too well.

At this point, tactical arrangements are not the most important thing; what matters is the players' condition and how well the details are handled.

AC Green was called for a foul while boxing out Gan Guoyang. He tried his best to push Gan Guoyang away, but it didn't help much.

“You have so much strength, AC. You need to use more,” Gan Guoyang said to Green.

As a virgin, AC Green is the most energetic player on the entire Lakers team.

He dedicated all his energy to basketball, and it was because of him that West dared to give up Rambis.

At the start, he and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took turns guarding Gan Guoyang. Abdul-Jabbar camped in the three-second zone, while AC Green pushed and shoved from the outside and fronted him.

Gan Guoyang received the ball on the sideline, turned around and took a mid-range shot. The ball missed, but he rushed to the basket, jumped high, tapped the ball over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, jumped again and tapped it into his own hands.

A pass was then made to the middle, where Thompson received the ball and scored a layup!

The Trail Blazers started the game with a 6-0 run against the Lakers, and Riley was sweating profusely with anxiety.

However, he did not call a timeout, believing that the team was playing well, but the players were not in top form.

The Lakers passed the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who received it in the low post, turned, and hooked it in!

When it comes to the most crucial moments, we still have to rely on veteran Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Although he is no longer the offensive core, his hook shot can still save the team from dire situations.

The arena finally erupted in cheers; if the Trail Blazers kept them down like that, everyone was about to lose it. Then, Thompson cut inside to receive a pass from Drexler, but his hook shot was blocked by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the Lakers launched a counterattack.

Johnson dashed across half-court like the wind, turned and got past Vandeweghe, but his layup was interfered with by Drexler and missed.

James Worthy grabbed the rebound, drove to the basket, and scored with a left-handed layup, giving the Lakers a quick point.

However, it was clear that Johnson did not start well, missing three consecutive shots.

Two of those layups were intended to be successful, but one went too far and the other was disrupted by Drexler.

This guy probably slept with women last night, otherwise his legs wouldn't have gone weak.

Although Magic Johnson takes this series very seriously, playing with women is an essential part of his daily life.

Just like eating, he gets hungry if he misses a meal, and he'll feel listless and listless if he doesn't play with women for a day.

However, in the most intense competition, any lack of energy can lead to poor performance and being suppressed by the opponent.

Gan Guoyang was different. Like a beast, he received the ball in the middle, accelerated and drove hard to the basket, and dunked over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with one hand!
Without any hesitation or being intimidated by Gan Guoyang's dunk, Johnson once again sprinted with the ball.

Taking advantage of the Trail Blazers' unstable defense, he made his third drive to the basket, scoring a layup off the backboard and drawing a foul from Drexler.

Riley breathed a sigh of relief when the ball went in, Johnson opened the scoring, Worthy scored, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored.

The Lakers' key players are gradually finding their form at the start of the season, while for the Trail Blazers, it seems that only Gan Guoyang is in top form.

But Riley knew in his heart that even the best Forrest Gump could kill someone.
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Many in the league are paying close attention to this series.

At this moment, Larry Bird is lying on his bed at home, enjoying a back massage from his girlfriend, while watching Magic Johnson make the free throw, narrowing the gap to 1 point.

The Trail Blazers maintained a one-point lead at 8-7, but Bird believed that the Trail Blazers actually started better.

“Sonny plays a different kind of basketball than us,” Bird muttered to himself.

His girlfriend, Dina, didn't ask him about the game; she was only focused on Bird's waist and back.

For Dina, her back injury affected not only Bird's performance on the court, but also her happiness.

The two got engaged in 1980, but have not officially married to this day. They started living together in 86, and she took care of Larry's life.

Of course, Bird's stubbornness at times is one of the main reasons why he is now suffering from back injuries.

He had previously injured his back while building a basketball court, and this season he still hasn't learned his lesson. After returning home, he used a leaf blower to blow leaves in the yard, and then cleaned the garage. As a result, his back suddenly started to hurt violently, and he was sweating profusely.

This caused him to miss part of the regular season. He was already troubled by this last season, and this season he began to worry that he might fall in a playoff series.

Defeating the Washington Bullet was a difficult process, partly because Bird was no longer able to control the situation as easily as he used to.

He was very envious when he saw Gan Guoyang go all out from the start of the first quarter, because when he plays now, he has to warm up first and it is difficult for him to get into the game immediately.

Although he is only 30 years old, he feels very old.

Gan Guoyang, a young beast, made a shot on offense and drew a foul from Johnson.

The Trail Blazers made the free throw, making it 11-7, and maintained their lead.

The Lakers continued to ignore everything, launching fast breaks regardless of whether the ball went in or not.

This is a key characteristic that distinguishes the Lakers from other teams—they can launch fast breaks anytime, anywhere, without discrimination.

Whether you score or not, they are always ready and have the ability to do so.

Johnson made a long pass to the basket, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar caught the ball and dunked it with one hand before Gan Guoyang could get back on defense!

Gan Guoyang went to the free-throw line, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn't even try to grab the rebound; he had already run to the frontcourt to prepare for a fast break.

Why would a 40-year-old veteran like him need to fight for rebounds? He should lie in wait early, get the ball, attack the basket, and score quickly.

Bird admired this, muttering to himself, "The Lakers' fast break ability is stronger than ours. We can't beat the Trail Blazers because we can't initiate fast breaks..."

Bird still feels heavy-hearted when he recalls the 1986 Finals. The Trail Blazers exploited their weakness and dragged them into a quagmire of half-court battles.

Facing the Lakers, the Trail Blazers seemed to have no intention of slowing them down, and they played very fast.

Drexler dribbled quickly across half-court, cut directly to the basket from the middle, drew the defense, and then made a behind-the-back pass to Thompson.

Thompson received the ball and made a layup with his left hand—this was Thompson's second easy layup of the night.

The Lakers' defensive focus was on Gan Guoyang, which gave Thompson an opportunity, clearly a carefully planned strategy before the game.

The Lakers felt the game wasn't fast enough and sped up again. Byron Scott drove the length of the court with a series of crossover dribbles to the basket, but his layup was blocked by Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang simply made way for Scott to break through, and then blocked Scott's shot from behind.

Bird was so excited when he saw the ball that he almost jumped up, because if it were him, he could only watch Scott make the layup and there was nothing he could do.

After the block, the Trail Blazers got the ball and launched a fast break. Drexler advanced the ball, and Gan Guoyang took the ball at the top of the arc and hit a three-pointer!

"Bingo! Sonny Gan hits a three-pointer! The Lakers call a timeout."

At this moment, Bird jumped up, then felt a sharp pain in his back and rolled off the bed.

Dina shook her head as she looked at her boyfriend's pained expression and said, "You deserve it, Larry."

(End of this chapter)