The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 435 The End
After a season of adjustment, Gan Guoyang and his teammates have developed excellent chemistry regarding when and how to play one-on-one.

He always manages to deliver a fatal blow to his opponent with highly efficient one-on-one kills at the right time and in the crucial rhythm position.

Pat Riley once had a similar low-post two-point scoring machine, but now that machine is old and can contribute very little.

Gan Guoyang is entering his peak period, and with the added advantage of this season's rules, he is invincible and can always cause significant damage to his opponents.

During the timeout, Riley was at a loss for words. He kept scratching his forehead, drawing a tactic on the whiteboard, erasing it, drawing it again, and erasing it again.

Finally losing control of his emotions, he slammed the tactical board on the ground, put his hands on his hips, and said to the players, "You've disappointed me, greatly disappointed me! I knew we would lose, but I never imagined we'd lose like this, play like this! You're all a bunch of..."

Riley managed to control himself and shut his mouth when he was about to utter a curse.

The Memorial Arena was unusually noisy, with deafening cheers from the fans, while the Lakers' bench was deathly silent.

Inside the glass palace, which was boiling like a volcano, was a frozen land with a temperature of minus fifteen degrees Celsius. The players' thoughts, touch, and emotions were all frozen.

Riley's out-of-control performance undoubtedly worsened the Lakers' already poor form. Johnson wanted to regroup the team, but it was too late.

Not only Riley lost control, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also lost control, and James Worthy's performance tonight was an absolute mess.

If they were leading 2-1, a loss like this would be acceptable; bad moments like this are inevitable in a seven-game series.

The problem is that losing both home games has left them with very little room for error in the series, and the situation is now at its most dangerous point, with the team's morale collapsing.

After the timeout, Riley made almost no useful adjustments, and Johnson gritted his teeth, using his individual skills to support the Lakers' offense.

He first hit a mid-range shot from the outside, then double-teamed Gan Guoyang. After Gan Guoyang passed the ball, Porter received the ball and shot but missed.

Johnson grabbed the defensive rebound, drove the length of the court to the basket, and used a quick spin move to cut into the three-second zone and score a layup.

Johnson knew he had to get moving, to get fast, because the Lakers still had a glimmer of hope.

The Trail Blazers' outside shooting continued to miss, and Johnson got the ball and launched another fast break, seeing hope of catching up.

However, his pass to Jabbar was intercepted by Vandeweghe!
Vandeweghe suddenly cut in and boldly intercepted the ball from Johnson.

Drexler launched a counterattack, and Gan Guoyang rolled down the court like a tank, receiving the ball and drawing a foul from AC Green on his layup attempt.

"Shet!"

Johnson cursed, saying that this kind of shot was really demoralizing.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was agile on fast breaks, but he couldn't keep up on defense.

Gan Guoyang was like an NFL running back, rushing into the middle to receive the ball and no one could stop him, leaving no choice but to foul.

Gan Guoyang stepped to the free-throw line and deliberately slowed down, taking his time to throw the free throws, just to drag out the pace.

Gan Guoyang made both free throws, scoring 9 points in the fourth quarter and bringing his total to 29 points.

The Lakers' offensive counter-attacks suddenly stalled, making it difficult for Johnson to organize another offensive play.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar received the ball in the low post and went one-on-one, and the Trail Blazers never double-teamed him once throughout the entire series.

The fact that Gan Guoyang was left to handle the defense alone greatly weakened the connection between Jabbar and his teammates.

Once the ball gets to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it becomes very difficult for him to execute team plays.

Furthermore, Jabbar's success rate in one-on-one situations against Gan Guoyang was not high. Gan Guoyang used a three-quarters frontal approach combined with power to counter Jabbar, making it very difficult for him.

Gan Guoyang's hook shot was interfered with and missed. He then turned and grabbed the rebound, blocking Green, Worthy and others.

Without the help of offensive rebounds, the Lakers' offense became isolated, and their margin for error became increasingly smaller.

Midway through the fourth quarter, when substitute Dell Curry hit a corner three-pointer, the point difference reached a game-high 23 points.

This three-pointer was the final straw for the Lakers, and the entire Memorial Arena erupted in cheers as Curry sank a three-pointer!
Gan Guoyang stepped forward and gave Curry a high-five. It was Gan Guoyang who assisted Curry on that three-pointer, bringing Gan Guoyang's total to 10 assists.

The outcome of the game was no longer in doubt. In the 80s, before the widespread use of three-pointers, it would have been almost impossible to close the gap in half a quarter.

With the game entering its final countdown, once the trailing team's coach substitutes their key players, it means the game is essentially over.

But Pat Riley stood on the sidelines with a grim face, showing no intention of calling a timeout to substitute the key players.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar grew impatient during the repeated back-and-forth runs. After a dead ball situation, he yelled at Riley, "Are you demented, coach?!" Riley ignored him and refused to call a timeout. Just like in a previous regular season game, Abdul-Jabbar called a timeout himself and substituted himself out of the game.

With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar off the court, Gan Guoyang could finally sit out as well. He had been wanting to rest for a while, as the team was leading by 20 points.

When the buzzer sounded, the score was 102-124, with the Trail Blazers winning by 22 points against the Los Angeles Lakers at home.

With a 3-1 lead, they have one foot in the finals and have taken a solid step toward defending their title.

The Lakers players were unusually dejected as they left the court, and Pat Riley lost his temper and lashed out at them in the locker room.

In his view, losing this game would mean that the Lakers' entire season's efforts and the best plans of their careers would all go down the drain.

Although they are down 1-3, and theoretically still have a chance to turn things around, it is clear to everyone that the Lakers are finding it difficult to mount an effective comeback.

Riley yelled and screamed in the locker room, but to his disappointment, no one paid any attention to him. Everyone just stared at Riley without reacting at all.

After the second game, Riley's kick at the door still had some effect, but by then everyone had become immune to his motivational speeches and anger.

The Lakers players didn't see a passionate, victory-hungry coach, but rather an incompetent figure who was frustrated and took his anger out on the players when he was out of ideas.

Since winning the championship in 1985, Riley and the players have gradually drifted apart, from being close friends with the players to becoming a star coach.

His endorsement fees are higher than some players' salaries.

He was the darling of Los Angeles, living in the spotlight of the big city, while the players gradually became his foils.

Starting with the 1985 season, Riley refused to allow media interviews with the players in the locker room.

Reporters need Riley's permission to enter the locker room and chat with the players.

Although Riley's intention was to unite the team and prevent rumors from alienating the players, his domineering behavior sparked discontent among many players.

Everyone just suppressed their dissatisfaction; as long as they continued to win on the battlefield, these problems were not problems.

But this crushing defeat brought to light all sorts of problems and conflicts, and no one wanted to serve this slick-haired "hypocrite" anymore.

Riley was shocked and furious to see the players' indifference; he felt he had lost control of the team.

In a fit of rage, he punched and shattered the glass on the locker room's fire extinguisher cabinet. His hand was cut by the glass, and blood stained his custom-made shirt along the cuff.

The locker room remained silent. No one spoke, and no one went to check on Riley's hand—everyone thought he was acting.

Only the team doctor came and took Riley to the medical room. The remaining players changed their clothes and left the locker room and arena to wait on the team bus.

They declined to be interviewed by reporters. Only Magic Johnson attended the post-game press conference, expressed some of his views, and then hurriedly returned to his car.

The Lakers players waited on the bus for about 20 minutes. Riley cleaned the glass shards from his hands, bandaged himself, and boarded the bus. He didn't say a word, and his face was expressionless.

Two days later in Los Angeles, Riley removed the bandages from his hand and directed the game with his injured hand, trying to keep it hidden from view.

He didn't want anyone to see the wound on his hand, because he didn't want anyone to know that he also had a weakness, a fatal weakness.

The Lakers won a game at the Great Western Forum, 112-119, keeping their hopes of a comeback alive.

But Riley appeared calm and indifferent before and after the game, showing no trace of his former passion.

On May 28, 1987, in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, the Portland Trail Blazers decisively defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 104-116 at home, a 12-point advantage.

Gan Guoyang's outstanding performance, with 44 points, 18 rebounds, and 6 blocks, along with an average of 38.5 points, 16.5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5.5 blocks per game in the series, sent the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers home and led his team to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year.

Meanwhile, on May 28th, the league announced the results of the regular season MVP, with Gan Guoyang beating Magic Johnson to win the MVP award for the second consecutive year with his amazing regular season performance.

The Los Angeles Times, in its assessment of Gan Guoyang's MVP award, stated: "It's not that Magic Johnson's performance wasn't spectacular enough, but rather that Gan Guoyang's was simply too breathtaking."

Gan Guoyang is leading the Portland Trail Blazers on a great stride toward defending their title, and no one can stop them now.

Pat Riley's career with the Lakers, however, is in jeopardy.

Thank you to my loyal reader for the patronage! Congratulations to the Celtics on their championship win. I was supposed to add an extra chapter, but I twisted my arm today, and my forearm aches with every word I type, so I'm writing very slowly. Three chapters today as usual, and an extra chapter tomorrow.

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(End of this chapter)