The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 565 Impatient

Just when everyone thought that Gan Guoyang would face Jordan in the final battle in the fourth quarter, just like in the past, the plot took an unexpected turn.

The Bulls maintained a full-court press defense throughout the game, but suddenly collapsed under the Trail Blazers' consistent half-court offensive play.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers went on a 10-2 run to take the lead, with all 10 points coming from assists by Gan Guoyang.

Porter hit a three-pointer, Sanders scored under the basket, Jerome Kossie cut to the basket for a layup, and then Petrovic hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc with an assist from Gan Guoyang—this was Petrovic's third three-pointer tonight.

The Bulls' triangle offense stalled, and Cartwright has yet to score a point, struggling against Gan Guoyang's defense.

The Trail Blazers double-teamed Jordan from the back, starting as soon as he crossed half-court, and Pippen, Grant, and BJ Armstrong all missed their shots.

Because Agan swept back and forth between the three-point line and the three-second zone like a giant spider, leaving the paint entirely to Sabonis.

Bill Cartwright has been completely neutralized defensively; he has no offensive rhythm and can't break down Sabonis.

Compared to the Trail Blazers' well-honed half-court offense over three seasons, the Bulls' triangle offense is still not refined enough and gets stuck in crucial moments.

When the timeout ended and Jordan tried to take over the game, it was too late; Gan Guoyang was able to respond to every single basket.

Furthermore, the Trail Blazers demonstrated an absolute advantage in rebounding, with Gan Guoyang, Sabonis, and Kersey repeatedly grabbing offensive rebounds for second-chance opportunities.

The Trail Blazers had an astonishingly high offensive success rate in the fourth quarter, scoring on ten consecutive possessions and suffocating the Bulls.

During a Bulls offensive possession, Jordan received a pass from John Paxson on the sideline, but the ball accidentally slipped and landed right on the head of Bobby Bellman, who was kneeling on one knee on the sidelines.

Both Bellman and Adelman inherited Jack Ramsey's habit of kneeling on the sidelines to watch the game.

Unfortunately for him, Berman instinctively reached out and caught the ball.

The Trail Blazers' bench stood up, believing the ball was out of bounds, but the referee called goaltending on Bellman, and the Bulls retained possession.

Berman felt wronged. The ball was clearly out of bounds. He was just helping the referee catch the ball, otherwise it would have flown to the scorer's table.

However, there was nothing he could do. As an off-court player, he violated the rules by reaching out to touch the ball, and the referee had to give Berman a technical foul.

Seeing that Behrman was about to swear, Gan Guoyang rushed over, covered Behrman's mouth, and pulled him aside: "You can't swear, or you'll be kicked out."

Berman looked indignant, but seeing the lead in the score, he suppressed his urge to curse.

If the Bulls' ball doesn't reach Jordan's hands on the sideline inbounds, the Trail Blazers will stick to man-to-man defense.

By utilizing the intensity and focus of man-to-man marking, they disrupted the Bulls' offensive flow, trapping them in an isolated and stagnant offensive state.

The Bulls missed several consecutive shots under the basket, and the interior combination of Gan Guoyang and Sabonis was quite strong defensively.

Porter dribbled the ball on the fast break, broke through to the basket with his left hand, faked a layup, and then passed the ball to Gan Guoyang who was following up.

After receiving the ball, Gan Guoyang passed it back to Sabonis, who then slammed it down with one hand and scored!
The Trail Blazers extended their lead to 10 points, the largest margin of victory in the game.

Jordan immediately countered with lightning speed, driving to the basket, shaking off Forrest Gump and Sabonis, and scoring a layup.

They narrowed the gap to 8 points.

The Bulls began to employ a full-court press defense, with BJ Armstrong leading the defense against Porter.

Before Porter even crossed half-court, Gan Guoyang came over to set a screen, then received a pass from Porter at the top of the arc and launched a long-range three-pointer.

The ball goes in!

Gan Guoyang's first shot in the fourth quarter was practically the final blow to the Bulls.

Such unreasonable long-range shots are something only Forrest Gump and Larry Bird would do in today's NBA, making them impossible for opponents to defend against.

Jordan wanted to respond with a three-pointer, but hesitated and didn't shoot. Instead, he drove to the basket and drew a foul from Sabonis.

Jordan made both free throws, bringing his score to 41 points. However, the Bulls were down by 9 points and needed a strong offensive and defensive run to turn the tide.

But the Trail Blazers' offense was like an engine at its peak, so smooth and fluid that it was unstoppable.

Gan Guoyang made a beautiful pass in the low post to the cutting Kossie, and Pippen had no choice but to foul.

Then, Sabonis made a cross-field pass to the corner, where Porter was completely open.

Catch and shoot a three-pointer and it's in! The Trail Blazers' sixth three-pointer of the first half, and the game is now unstoppable. Phil Jackson calls another timeout, but it's too late to stop the Trail Blazers' silky-smooth offense.

Jordan was indeed very strong, but it took the whole team's effort to stop the Trail Blazers.

This kind of team offense from the Trail Blazers is exactly what Phil Jackson craves.

If Jordan could have perfectly integrated his offense with the team like Forrest Gump, they would have been a true championship-caliber team.

Right now, they seem to still have quite a distance to go.

With two minutes remaining in the game, the score was 109-118, with the Bulls still trailing the Trail Blazers by 9 points.

Since it was a regular season game, and the two sides had fought to this point, it was clear that Jackson couldn't win, so he stopped struggling.

The Trail Blazers held onto their advantage, and the score was 115-122, with the Trail Blazers defeating the Bulls by 7 points.

The scoreline clearly shows that both sides played well offensively, making it a high-scoring battle, but in the end, the Bulls couldn't hold on.

Jordan scored 45 points, but Gan Guoyang's 42 points offset it all, and the rest depended on the performance of the role players.

Berman and Jackson called very few timeouts throughout the game, giving the players more control of the game.

Pippen and Grant were too inexperienced, especially since they often had to go head-to-head with Forrest Gump in the paint.

They played reasonably well in the first half, but in the third and fourth quarters, the pressure was immense once Agan exerted himself on both offense and defense.

This was a considerable challenge for the two of them, and in some crucial rounds, they were always pinned down by Forrest Gump.

These two good brothers on the court need to grow quickly to form a barrier and effectively counter Forrest Gump.

And then there's Cartwright, who had 0 points and 3 rebounds the whole game. It was just too terrible; he was completely outplayed by Forrest Gump.

The Trail Blazers' guards had a stellar performance tonight, even without Hornacek.

特里-波特拿下10分送出11次助攻，桑德斯7分7个篮板，库里6分3次助攻。

While Petrovic was indeed outscored by Jordan by 40 points, he made 3 of 4 three-pointers and scored an efficient 15 points throughout the game.

His three-pointers played a crucial role in key moments, so from that perspective, his performance was not bad.

After the match, Petrovic and Bill Shawnley went to a bar on the street for a drink, as promised.

Surprisingly, he met more people at the bar than he had expected.

In the end, neither of them paid for the drinks; the bar owner did.

Afterwards, Gan Guoyang told Petrovich, "Bill knew you played well tonight, and the boss would definitely treat us, so he took you along!"

With this victory, Gan Guoyang's record against Jordan improved by one game, bringing his record to 9 wins and 2 losses in 11 encounters, demonstrating a clear advantage.

Even though they lost the game, Jordan didn't seem frustrated afterward. The two met in the player tunnel and hugged each other.

Jordan said, "Sonny, we're getting closer and closer. You didn't win easily tonight. We just didn't control the rhythm well and didn't play with any specific strategy. Next time, we won't let you play so easily."

Facing the defeated Jordan, Gan Guoyang unusually refrained from mockery and instead agreed with Jordan's statement.

He nodded and said, "I look forward to our real encounter, to a life-or-death battle."

During tonight's regular season game, Gan Guoyang clearly sensed the potential of the Chicago Bulls.

Their triangle offense is well-organized, and Pippen and Grant are very difficult to deal with due to their all-around skills, and they are rapidly improving.

Most importantly, Jordan found his own rhythm and style of play. He was no longer exploring his own path alone, but had gathered a group of people who were willing to fight alongside him through thick and thin on the basketball court.

Basketball is ultimately a team sport, where individuals and teams are inseparable.

Now, when Jordan stands before Forrest Gump, he is no longer alone and helpless behind him, but has a team supporting him.

Thinking of this, a feeling of excitement filled Forrest Gump's heart again, and he was somewhat impatient.

He even thought that next time they played Detroit, he could just elbow Thomas to death and clear the playoffs for the Bulls.

(End of this chapter)