The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 434 The Steel Wall
The Lakers' poor performance was unexpected, yet understandable.

In fact, they have already played three good games, especially the first game of the series, where the whole team played exceptionally well and had a strong momentum.

However, they were stunned by Gan Guoyang's blow, followed by another 51-point blow in the second game. By the third game, they had gritted their teeth and fought hard to win a game, and the whole team was a bit tired.

So, they only won one of the three good games, turning a 3-0 scoreline into a 1-2 scoreline.

On the contrary, the Trail Blazers won two of the three games thanks to Gan Guoyang's heroics, and although they lost the third game, they greatly exhausted their opponents.

In the fourth game, Gan Guoyang stepped up to cover the gap, and the rest of the players finally had a breakout performance, with substitutes such as Hornacek and Kossi delivering outstanding plays.

The Lakers were not going to give up easily. During halftime in the locker room, Pat Riley did his best to boost the team's morale and give everyone a shot in the arm.

Especially Magic Johnson; just before he went on the court, Riley put his arm around Johnson and kept telling him, "If we win this game, we'll win the series, the initiative will be back in our hands, and we'll be back in Los Angeles..."

To be honest, Riley's encouragement didn't have much effect on Johnson. In fact, the way Johnson looked at Riley made him think that the guy seemed to have some psychological issues.

Riley's constant repetition of "we will win" reveals his weakness and anxiety; he is preoccupied with the possibility of losing.

And when he said, "We'll go back to Los Angeles," everyone knew that Los Angeles was practically Forrest Gump's home turf, the ruthless and cunning guy on the court.

Before the game, he said something like, "I'm going to blow you guys away." But during the game, he kept setting up his teammates and creating opportunities for them, confusing the Lakers' defense.

This is blatant tactical deception, and the Lakers have no way to stop it. They know it's a deception, but does that mean they won't defend Forrest Gump in the third quarter?
Forrest Gump is known for his ability to unleash his power in the third quarter. What if he suddenly explodes in the second half and launches an offensive surge against you?
Riley offered no countermeasures. He had used almost everything he could—tactics, rotations, matchups—and had no backup plan.

This made Riley's motivation seem increasingly hollow, and the players became increasingly uncertain.

The Lakers' biggest problem is the lack of variety in their frontcourt. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is too old, while Duckworth and Green are too young. They desperately need an experienced veteran center but can't find one.

The team is now slightly missing Maurice Lucas. If he were here, he could at least go up and punch Forrest Gump—but the fact is he's with the SuperSonics, and he can't do much in the semifinals.

Johnson still misses Bob McAdoo, and why didn't Jerry West sign Bill Walton in the summer of 1985? With him there, at least they could have held on for a while.
This would prevent Walton from creating opportunities for Gan Guoyang to rest in Portland, and Walton's offensive threat on the field is considerable; his passing keeps the team on edge.

In short, the Lakers experienced a rather chaotic halftime break. The players and coaches failed to reach a consensus in terms of will and mentality, and they returned to the court with confusion and fatigue.

Riley was disappointed with his coaching performance, and all he could do at that moment was pray that the Trail Blazers would underperform in the third quarter, giving the Lakers an opportunity to mount a comeback.

Sometimes that's how series matchups are; it's just a competition of who's worse.

You're not in good form and your situation is dire, but your opponent isn't doing much better.

If you're in a slightly better state than your opponent, and seize an opportunity at some point, you can turn the tide of a game, or even the entire series.

The Trail Blazers were naturally full of confidence, but they dared not say that the third quarter would be foolproof.

Sometimes a bad offense feels like a virus; it suddenly breaks out and then spreads, causing the whole team to go into a scoring drought.

To avoid this situation, Ramsey told Gan Guoyang, "You have to play in the third quarter, don't rest for a minute."

Gan Guoyang is the most consistent player on the team, and even the most consistent player in the entire league. He is the low-post two-point creator that coaches dream of.

At the start of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers spread out and let Gan Guoyang go it alone. Gan Guoyang received the ball in a good position, turned around and pushed past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then used his speed to move to the side and made a move hook shot!

The point difference between the two sides has widened to 17 points.

Johnson dribbled into the paint with his backside sticking out, and responded with a hook shot after a turn, scoring two points in return.

This was the moment to test the star's mettle. Gan Guoyang set a screen for Porter, who drove to the basket but missed the layup. Gan Guoyang then grabbed the offensive rebound and easily laid it in.

With these two shots, Gan Guoyang has now scored 20 points.

If he can make a strong push in the third quarter, scoring 40 points in the game shouldn't be a problem.

However, after stabilizing the situation with two goals at the start of the third quarter, Gan Guoyang focused his energy on the defensive end.

The Trail Blazers' defensive intensity suddenly increased, a level higher than in the first half.

The Trail Blazers didn't double-team; they just used one-on-one defense, with Gan Guoyang camping in the paint waiting for them to come in.

Just as Johnson was about to shove his way in, he was blocked and stole by Gan Guoyang. On the counterattack, Vandeweghe and Drexler each rushed into the basket and dunked!
The Lakers got a show-time from the Trail Blazers, and the cheers at Memorial Arena grew louder and louder. With nearly five minutes left in the third quarter, the score was 50-64, with the Trail Blazers still leading the Lakers by 14 points.

The Lakers' situation became increasingly unfavorable. After scoring 4 points, Gan Guoyang stopped dribbling and attacking, focusing on defense and playmaking to resist the Lakers' counterattacks and help his teammates attack.

The Lakers' outside shooting touch just couldn't recover, while the Trail Blazers' defense tightened up, allowing Johnson and Scott to shoot freely, while Gan Guoyang and Thompson tenaciously guarded the paint.

If you make the shot, you make it; if you miss, you're not given a chance to grab the offensive rebound or get a second chance.

This would prevent the Lakers from launching a coherent offensive attack and scoring consecutive baskets, making it increasingly difficult for them to catch up.

Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers continuously slowed down their offensive and defensive pace, gave up offensive rebounds, quickly retreated on defense, and occasionally used full-court press, employing what they called "variation defense."

This is a defensive style trained by Bobby Bellman, which uses changes in the pace of the defense to disrupt the opponent's offensive rhythm.

Increase the intensity, relax for a few rounds, then increase the intensity again.

It's like running. If a person runs at a constant pace, their body will adapt after they reach their limit, find their rhythm, and run more and more easily.

But interval running is different; it involves alternating between fast and slow speeds, which can cause inexperienced runners to break down.

The Trail Blazers' defense is about making opponents experience a change of pace, with the defensive intensity varying between strong and weak points, and the defensive content also changing. This sounds difficult, but it is indeed not easy.

Gan Guoyang is the defensive commander on the court. When he devotes most of his energy to one-on-one plays, he is the best defender in the league, the steel wall of Portland.

He is familiar with Berman's defensive style and can direct the team to make defensive variations based on the situation.

Most teams can't keep up with the changes in pace and intensity in the third and fourth quarters.

During the regular season, the Trail Blazers often dragged the game out until the final stages of the fourth quarter to deliver a decisive blow. In the first three minutes, everyone would go back and forth, exchanging blows, but in the last three minutes, they would crush you.

The defensive improvements that Bellman brought to the Trail Blazers were significant; his thinking and strategies were ahead of their time.

The Lakers are no ordinary team, and one strike was clearly not enough. In the third quarter, under Gan Guoyang's command, the Trail Blazers used varied defenses to squeeze and overwhelm the Lakers. Gan Guoyang even kept charging into Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the paint.

Even though Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a rock-solid giant, he couldn't control his emotions tonight under Gan Guoyang's repeated bumping and shoving, and a conflict broke out between them at the end of the third quarter.

Instead of taking action, the two got into a heated argument, with the Lakers still trailing by 16 points.

Their various counterattacks in the third quarter were ineffective, and the feeling of fatigue and boredom washed over Jabbar again. He couldn't stand it and started trash-talking Gan Guoyang after grabbing a rebound.

Gan Guoyang, of course, didn't hold back. The two exchanged insults face-to-face under the basket, until Strom came over and separated them.

Stromb reminded Gan Guoyang, "Calm down, Gan. Don't argue with older people, and definitely don't fight."

Gan Guoyang smiled and said, "I'm not angry. I was just acting with him to let him vent."

Strom shook his head. Forrest Gump was always very calm on the court. Even when he seemed to hit or yell at people, it was always with a purpose. He rarely acted impulsively.

Of course, once he starts acting impulsively, the consequences will be severe.

Riley substituted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to let the veteran calm down. He sat on the bench and threw his towel away.

At the end of the third quarter, the Lakers trailed the Trail Blazers 64-78, still down by 14 points.

Gan Guoyang scored 4 points in the first quarter, but had already grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked 7 shots by the end of the third quarter.

Gan Guoyang's all-out defense is equally formidable, no less so than his relentless one-on-one attacks.

The Lakers only scored 64 points in three quarters, which is not the kind of game they like at all.

At the start of the fourth quarter, when the Trail Blazers spread out, they gave Gan Guoyang a chance to post up.

Gan Guoyang scored 3 out of 4 one-on-one shots and drew a foul from Duckworth, making the free throw and scoring 7 consecutive points. When the score difference was widened to 20 points, Riley called a timeout in desperation.

He cursed inwardly, "That shameless Forrest Gump, that shameless pioneer, that shameless one against four!"
(End of this chapter)