The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 447 The Massacre Season 2

The emotions of both sides gradually accumulated in the center of the Silver Dome, like a giant volcano.

This year's playoffs have been a battle between the two teams, especially the Pistons, who have been fighting in every round.

The 80s were better than the 70s. The 80s were mainly about playoffs, and the play wasn't very aggressive; there was more of a show of it.

In the 70s, the fighting started as early as the regular season, and there were fights every game day. However, television broadcasts were not common at that time, so many of them were not recorded.

Before the start of the second half, the players from both sides took to the field. The two teams no longer had the relatively relaxed expressions they had in the first half; they all wore poker faces, looking ready to fight at any moment.

The nearly 40000 fans at the scene transformed the place into a barbaric arena with their loud shouts and profanities.

Detroit is a city very different from Portland, where the fans are mostly working-class blue-collar workers, including a large number of auto workers.

You can tell just by looking at the fans' clothes on the sidelines: ill-fitting T-shirts, unbuttoned polo shirts, brightly colored plaid shirts, and many people wearing unsightly baseball caps. The entire stands are a riot of colors.

CBS repeatedly showed wide shots of the Silver Dome to showcase its grandeur.

Apart from the coaches, commentators, and technical staff, you'll hardly see anyone in suits here; they're all working-class, uneducated people.

This fan base has shaped the working-class spirit of the Detroit Pistons to some extent. Basketball, like football, was originally a working-class sport.

Before the NBA was founded, most professional leagues, such as the NBL, were sponsored by factories and companies. They recruited players and gave them positions in their factories or companies, where they received salaries while playing for the team.

Early professional basketball leagues were known for their rough play, with courts surrounded by wire mesh to prevent fans from rushing onto the court and fighting with players.

Today, the NBA is increasingly becoming a middle-class sport, and the Detroit Pistons are one of the few teams that still retain the spirit of early working-class basketball.

Detroiters are proud of this, and the Pistons players are proud of it too; they are ashamed of their crushing defeats in Portland in the first two games.

After a closely contested first half, the second half was their chance to prove themselves and exact revenge.

The referee for tonight's game was Earl Stroom, who reminded the players to control their emotions before the second half began.

However, this was completely pointless. Stromb could feel the temperature gradually rising at the center of the silver dome, and Stromb's emotions became highly tense.

The Pistons took the first possession, with Dumars dribbling the ball on the wing and heading inside, but the Trail Blazers' defense was tight, so Dumars passed the ball to the top of the key.

Thomas received the ball and took a mid-range shot, but missed. Gan Guoyang then battled against Laimbeer and Donaldson under the basket and grabbed the rebound.

The Pistons, who usually don't rush offensive rebounds, started aggressively grabbing them, and immediately counter-rebounded after Gan Guoyang secured a defensive rebound, hindering the Trail Blazers' fast break.

Lambiel and Donaldson surrounded Gan Guoyang, while Dantley rushed over and groped him all over. Gan Guoyang held onto the ball firmly, his body covered in gropes, and he revealed his iron elbow!

With a flick of his elbow, Laimbeer and Donaldson immediately retreated, and Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Porter, ending any chance for a fast break.

Gan Guoyang cursed, "Are you Detroiters playing women's basketball? All you do is touch and grab. Show some manly moves."

No one from the Pistons spoke; they responded through their actions.

Drexler delivered a very clever through ball, finding an open shot under the Pistons' basket beyond the three-point line.

Vandeweghe, making a run, seized the opportunity to receive the ball and was about to make a layup when he was blocked by Laimbeer's collision.

The referee blew the whistle, and Bill Laimbeer committed his third foul of the game. As usual, he looked innocent and complained to the referee.

When Vandeweghe missed his first free throw, a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Gan Guoyang simply pulled Vandeweghe up from the ground without arguing with Lambiel.

He's waiting, and the Trail Blazers players are waiting too, to settle accounts with the Pistons later.

After that, the Pistons continued to attack the Trail Blazers in various ways, including but not limited to clamping their arms, hitting their heads, kneeing them, pinching their waists, and so on.

Some of them were called for fouls, but a significant number were not, because this is the Silver Top Center, and the referees cannot keep calling fouls and ejecting Pistons players for minor actions.

During a break in the game, Gan Guoyang said to Strom, "If you keep letting things go like this, you'll get a big one later."

Strom said with some exasperation, "Just don't kill anyone. Otherwise, I really want to punish you all."

Faced with the Pistons' rough play, the Trail Blazers showed great resilience, playing hard and trying to widen the score gap.

However, the Pistons stayed close in the third quarter. Midway through the quarter, Chuck Daly saw that the situation was not good, so he substituted in three guards to fight the offense.

The three guards, Garland Bill and Melvin Tpin, played a crucial role with their two mid-range and long-range shots.

The score difference remained within 5 points throughout, with the Trail Blazers' strong one-on-one defense and perfect defensive details preventing the Pistons from using their full potential.

They could barely keep the score close, but in the final stages of the third quarter, Gan Guoyang suddenly hit a long-range three-pointer, and then drove hard to the basket for a dunk on the fast break!
The score at the end of the third quarter was 89-81, with the Trail Blazers extending their lead to 8 points. Laimbeer was no longer willing to foul.

If he commits another foul, he'll be on the bench for the fourth quarter, so he could only watch as Gan Guoyang dunked and the third quarter ended.

After the third quarter, Daly knew one thing: this year's Pistons were no match for the Trail Blazers; they weren't mature enough.

The Pistons have a deep enough interior and a good backcourt, but their forwards are too young and they can't exploit the Trail Blazers' weaknesses to attack.

Gan Guoyang appears to be a center, but he is actually a center-forward swingman.

The Pistons piled up a bunch of big men to deal with Gan Guoyang, but Gan Guoyang turned into a forward, using fast breaks and mid-range shots to leave them helpless.

Then, on offense, the Pistons' big men weren't entirely useless, but they only managed to score a dozen or so points in a game, which wasn't decisive.

Therefore, the biggest threat to the Trail Blazers is still the Lakers, who have abundant offensive resources at the center and forward positions and can put pressure on the Trail Blazers and Gan Guoyang from all aspects.

The Pistons are a martial arts team, and wrestling grandmaster Gan Guoyang isn't afraid of them at all, nor is the rest of the Trail Blazers. They all have their leader protecting them, so their mentality is very good. Of course, the Pistons won't give up easily; no matter what, they hope to secure a victory at the Silver Top Center.

After the start of the fourth quarter, Dennis Rodman and John Salley entered the game, leaving only Donaldson in the paint.

Gan Guoyang remained on the court. He knew the Pistons wanted some physical contact, so he deliberately prevented them from doing so.

Gan Guoyang started to move to the high post to facilitate, constantly setting screens for his teammates, then cutting to the outside, receiving the ball and taking a mid-range shot.

If the Pistons extend outwards, Gan Guoyang will facilitate by passing the ball inwards; Paxson and Drexler are both excellent at cutting to the basket.

At this point in the game, the Pistons' defensive formation was effectively broken. In their efforts to attack and contain Gan Guoyang, their formation completely collapsed.

Because they couldn't withstand Gan Guoyang and Vandeweghe's outside shooting, and when Drexler started hitting mid-range shots, it proved that the turtle-shell pseudo-zone defense was useless.

The Trail Blazers displayed the flair of the team led by Bill Walton in the 1977 NBA Finals, with beautiful high-post playmaking, precise cuts, and timely passes.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers went on an 8-0 run, bringing the score to 105-93, a difference of 12 points!
The once noisy Silver Dome gradually quieted down. On the Trail Blazers' bench, Walton, Jones, and others raised their arms and cheered. Victory and the championship were within reach!

Chuck Daly didn't call a timeout; he wanted to see another possession. Thomas dribbled past Porter's defense on the perimeter and drove to the basket.

Thompson's floater missed due to interference from Gan Guoyang, and he grabbed the rebound. However, he was then elbowed in the face by Teping and bent over, clutching his face.

The referee called a foul on Teping, and Gan Guoyang went up and pushed Teping; he was already getting a little carried away.

Strom quickly separated the two. Knowing he was in the wrong, Terry accepted the foul and turned to leave without confronting Gan Guoyang.

Dennis Rodman came over and shoved Gan Guoyang around. Gan Guoyang glared at Rodman and said, "You'll guard me one-on-one later?"

Rodman smiled, shook his head, and said, "I know I can't stop you, but where did your guts go?"

"You'll find out later."

The Trail Blazers hit the game-winning shot, with Gan Guoyang posting up for a one-on-one attack.

Instead of going to the high post or the wings, he went deep into the paint, received a pass from Thompson, turned around and made a strong cut to the basket!
Under pressure from Timmerman and Rodman, he scored with a left-handed layup off the backboard, making it 107-93, with the Trail Blazers leading by 14 points. Chuck Daly called a timeout.

As they were walking back to their respective benches, Dennis Rodman tried to bump into and shove Gan Guoyang with some dirty tricks, and Gan Guoyang gently nudged Rodman.

Rodman wanted to mock him, saying, "Is that all the strength you have? Like a woman."

Little did anyone know, Gan Guoyang's gentle tug was actually to grab Rodman's arm.

His large hand suddenly grabbed Rodman like an iron clamp, and his other hand grabbed Rodman's waistband.

Like a king lifting a tripod, Gan Guoyang lifted the little bug Rodman up!
Rodman never expected Gan Guoyang to suddenly unleash his ultimate move. Before he could even struggle, he was already in mid-air.

Then Gan Guoyang took three steps in two, carrying Rodman to the scorer's table, and smashed him directly onto the scorer's table!
The heavy impact startled the technical staff, who jumped up, and the equipment on the technical table was smashed to pieces.

The Silver Dome Center was in an uproar: Forrest Gump had killed someone again!

The Pistons players reacted quickly, and this time they didn't hesitate or back down; they all rushed towards Gan Guoyang.

The Trail Blazers players reacted quickly; Walton had already sensed the danger and shouted, "Let's go!"

Both teams' starters and substitutes rushed forward, and the scene descended into chaos—it was a brawl!
The CBS commentators were stunned. Was this the NBA Finals or a free-fighting match?

Then the TV cameras captured Isaiah Thomas being thrown onto the scorer's table.

He tried to rush up and attack Gan Guoyang, but Gan Guoyang picked him up and threw him away.

Lambiel was resting on the sidelines, but he rushed onto the field after the incident.

But this time he just stood by and did nothing.

He suddenly noticed that Gan Guoyang was running angrily toward him.

"Sonny! I didn't do anything!"

As he tried to explain himself, Lambiel turned and ran.

As a result, Gan Guoyang rushed over and delivered a flying kick, hitting Lambiel squarely in the buttocks.

Lambiel was kicked so hard he fell to the ground, clutching his head to avoid being trampled.

This could be the most chaotic brawl in NBA history.

No one tried to break it up; everyone just went and started fighting, especially the Trail Blazers players, who had a long-standing grudge.

Walton and Jones stepped forward to protect Gan Guoyang, and the scene became increasingly chaotic as fans rushed onto the field.

Some fans threw things at Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers players, and security and police officers worked hard to maintain order.

Chuck Daly was completely stunned. How could this happen? The situation was completely out of control.

At that moment, he saw Jack Ramsey walking towards him and assumed they wanted to discuss taking control of the situation.

"Hey, Jack! We..."

Before Daly could finish speaking, Ramsey suddenly moved closer and punched Daly in the cheek!
In the commentary booth, Cunningham and Dick Stockton were stunned by what they saw.

"It's madness, the world has gone mad, what's wrong with it?"

(End of this chapter)