The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 981 Unfair Game

Pure offensive onslaught forced the Lakers to call a timeout.

An uneasy atmosphere permeated the Staples Center. Had Forrest Gump broken through it again?
How many more times will this happen?

Gan Guoyang returned to the bench, gulping down water, still dissatisfied.

I've played like this, shooting 100% until the third round, and I'm only leading by 8 points!
Gan Guoyang also knew that he couldn't keep making shots; he would miss eventually.

An 8-point lead is not a secure advantage against an opponent like the Lakers.

The team's overall strength is still a bit lacking. Although the Glorious team has performed very well while the Lakers have not performed well, the situation is only slightly better for the Glorious team.

Gan Guoyang's scoring spree was overshadowed by his teammates' inability to keep up and launch a scoring run.

O'Neal's consistent performance prevented the Lakers from falling too far behind, and they always had a chance to come back.

Therefore, Gan Guoyang cannot leave the field; he must remain on the field to continue fighting and maintain order.

On the Lakers' side, Phil Jackson managed to keep his composure, letting Jack Nicholson rant and rave like he'd just escaped from an asylum.

"We may not be able to go back to Los Angeles, we may not be able to go back to Los Angeles!"

"You got upset by the eighth seed, Phil, you're fired!"

Nicholson has always been a die-hard Lakers fan and is quite rational; after all, he's a star, and he needs to maintain a certain image.

But the game isn't over yet, and Nicholson is clearly having a stress reaction; he's really been beaten too much by Forrest Gump.

From the regular season to the playoffs, from ordinary games to Christmas Day games, and then to the Western Conference Finals, how many times have I been killed by Forrest Gump?

Other spectators nearby advised Nicholson not to get excited, saying that the game was far from over and the series had only just begun.

Nicholson finally calmed down a bit, but sitting in his reserved seat, he muttered, "It's over, it's over. We can't beat Sonny like this. He's already figured out how to kill us."

This guy might have been acting too much; he's become a bit of a drama queen.

After the timeout ended and the game resumed, the battle between the two sides intensified.

Gan Guoyang's idea was indeed correct; he wouldn't score indefinitely, and when he couldn't score, Glory's attack came to a standstill.

The Lakers' defense was indeed formidable, and the veterans finally reached 100% performance.

The tall and strong forwards and guards blocked the passing and driving paths of the Radiant team, and the increasingly powerful physical confrontations wore down the Radiant players' shooting touch.

Young players are too prone to making mistakes. Gerald Wallace was fouled twice by Pippen, giving Pippen four free throws, and he had to sit out the game.

The little black panther still has a long way to go and many things to learn.

When the Lakers were closing the gap to just 2 points, Old Tom suddenly made a bold move by using three guards.

With Terry Porter, Steve Kerr, and Van Exel, this lineup is practically a death sentence on perimeter defense.

But Old Tom knew that the offensive problem had to be solved now. The Lakers' strong and tight double-teams were wearing down Forrest Gump's shooting touch, and someone had to step up and break the Lakers' fierce double-teams.

Van Exel entered the game and immediately attacked the basket, making a floater and dragging Glory away from the danger zone.

On the defensive end, the Lakers collapsed their defense, betting that the Lakers' three-pointers wouldn't go in.

As it turned out, they really couldn't make the shot; the Lakers' three-point shooting was terrible tonight.

Gan Guoyang firmly controlled the rebound and seized a counter-attack opportunity.

He changed speed with the ball, then changed direction, and cut to the basket at a moderate pace, attacking O'Neal's defense and drawing a foul from O'Neal!
O'Neal was furious after being called for a foul, but he didn't think the referee was unfair; he just thought the foul shouldn't have happened.

He has committed four fouls (the previous foul was a mistake that has been corrected), and with four minutes left in the third quarter, he has to leave the court to rest, which is extremely disadvantageous for the Lakers.

Gan Guoyang stepped to the free-throw line, took a few deep breaths, and adjusted his muscle state and shooting feel.

Both free throws were made, making it 75-69, and the point difference was back to 6 points.

Upon seeing Gan Guoyang make both free throws, Nicholson, on the sidelines, scratched his head and exclaimed, "Oh no, he's found his rhythm again! He's back in form!"

Nicholson, a Lakers fan who has been tormented by Gan Guoyang for years, has a remarkably accurate grasp of Gan's rhythm and form.

After O'Neal left the court, the Lakers played more wide, and McGrady finally scored with a layup.

But Gan Guoyang immediately responded with a mid-range shot from 45 degrees, and it went in!

The Lakers are really scared of being shot at. The three guards spread out completely, and the Lakers are hesitant to double-team.

Subsequently, during an offensive play, McGrady was double-teamed by Gan Guoyang, and the ball hit his foot and rolled out of bounds, resulting in a turnover.

Gan Guoyang received the ball at a 45-degree angle on the left side, faked a shot, shook off the double team, went to the baseline, and passed the ball to Brad Miller with a bounce pass. Miller caught the ball and easily made a layup.

"Damn it, he's started passing the ball. He can shoot and pass, and you don't know what to do. Because no matter if you defend his shot or his pass, he'll make another choice and then use that choice to crush you! This is Forrest Gump's unfair guessing game! Is the thing in his left hand or his right? Sorry, it's always in the other hand you're guessing! You know that, but you have to guess, and you have to be wrong! Shit!"

Nicholson muttered to himself, loudly venting his inner anger and dissatisfaction.

Actually, this is good. It's good to vent and say what you want to say. It will all be fine after the game is over.

If you win by accident, you can be very happy.

But it's different for coaches and players; they have to suppress their emotions, persevere, and resist.

The confrontation with Gan Guoyang has always been the ultimate test of willpower.

The point difference remained around 6-8 points, and both sides' offensive efficiency declined.

As the intensity increased and physical strength waned, both sides began to throw some rather outrageous balls.

For example, Fisher's three-pointer missed completely, and Brad Miller's mid-range shot from the top of the arc went off the backboard but didn't touch the rim.

Pippen's fast break layup went straight over the bar, and even Gan Guoyang made a mistake by not catching the ball properly, turning around to hook the ball, only to find it was gone.

Both sides are anxious about this situation.

The Lakers couldn't catch up, and the Glorious couldn't widen the gap.

Especially the Glorious team, although they are in the lead, there is still one quarter left.

Their rotation depth is not as good as the Lakers', and their three-guard lineup eventually becomes ineffective.

Fortunately, O'Neal was sitting on the bench, otherwise Gan Guoyang would have had to go inside and fight the Shaq head-on.

Seeing this, Coach Tang decisively called a timeout and then changed the rotation, letting Gan Guoyang rest with two minutes left in the third quarter.

"I should play the entire third quarter."

"No, you rest now, and you can go on when the fourth quarter starts."

Gan Guoyang nodded; he really should make some adjustments.

Gan Guoyang has already scored 31 points, which is not an exaggeration for him.

He is prepared to average 40 points per game in the series, otherwise it will be difficult to win.

With Gan Guoyang off the field for a rest, Van Exel became the offensive core of the Glory team once again.

This guy has real guts and a big heart. After the timeout, he set a screen on the outside and hit a three-pointer! That was the Glory's second three-pointer in the second half.

He was on fire from three-point range in the first half, but his accuracy dropped in the second half.

Van Exel's three-pointer was crucial, extending the lead to nine points.

Pippen drove with all his might to the basket, pushed past Miller, and banked the ball in.

Van Exel missed his shot, and Horry, with time running out, hit a difficult fadeaway jumper.

This isn't his forte, but he still made the shot; the Lakers players really gave it their all.

Ultimately, the score reached 84-79 in the third quarter. Both sides scored quite well, but the game was very intense.

At this point, Old Tang's hidden strategy of rotating players came into play.

Gan Guoyang came on in the fourth quarter and immediately took possession of the ball in the low post, turning and overpowering Samaki Walker.

Gan Guoyang easily sinks a one-handed dunk! Samaki Walker simply can't stop him.

McGrady forced his way through and drew a foul. The referee seemed to be on his side, and McGrady made one of two free throws.

After securing the rebound, Guanghui did not counterattack. Slowing down, Gan Guoyang returned to the low post and received the ball.

Double team, pass to the top of the arc, Terry Porter receives the ball and shoots a three-pointer, it goes in!

Porter hit his first three-pointer of the night! Glorious shot his three-pointers really well tonight.

After scoring, Porter was very excited, shouted, and high-fived Gan Guoyang.

That's the charm of NBA games. No matter what happens after the game, lying in bed in pain, regretting it a thousand times, I really don't want to play anymore. If I play again, I'm a dog.

But once I step onto the court, my adrenaline surges, I become fully focused on the game, and I hit the crucial shot. That feeling is just amazing, like an addiction.

Lindsay Hunter's three-pointer missed, and after a scramble for the ball under the basket, Gan Guoyang still managed to get it.

Phil Jackson cursed, saying that with Forrest Gump on the court, their offensive rebounding strategy was completely ineffective.

This was the strategy during the Bulls era: Jordan would drive to the basket, and Pippen and Grant would follow up with offensive rebounds and put-backs. This was a very efficient and effective strategy in the playoffs.

However, Gan Guoyang's dominance in rebounding was too overwhelming, rarely giving the Bulls such opportunities. His strength and anticipation were too good.

During the regular season, Gan Guoyang averaged 26 points and 12 rebounds per game, seemingly no longer the rebounding king he once was.

But in the playoffs, his rebounding remains reliable: he has already grabbed 18 rebounds tonight.

Subsequently, Gan Guoyang forcefully broke through to the basket with the ball. The Lakers dared not double-team him and could only let Gan Guoyang rush to the vicinity of the basket. He then made a light dunk with his left hand and scored two more points.

Phil Jackson called a timeout; the Lakers seemed to be on the verge of collapse, and O'Neal had to come on.

The Lakers messed up a lot of details tonight. Jackson couldn't believe it. Was this the same Lakers who won the championship last season through teamwork?
In that defensive play just now, the opponent easily cut into the middle, and there was no help defense or interference.

Just because we didn't get the offensive rebound doesn't mean we can let our guard down.
Jackson was even more disappointed that no one wanted to meditate properly at breakfast.

Not far from the bench, Nicholson was muttering to himself like a madman.

Good heavens, what a Cthulhu scene this is! There's an indescribable monster in front of him, a group of demoralized warriors under his command, and a cursing madman beside him. Jackson himself felt like he was about to collapse.

He reminded himself that this was only the first match, and it wouldn't matter if he lost.

This is a common occurrence. In the first game of a series, strong teams may lose a game due to poor form, but they can regain their form and take control of the series again. There's no need to worry too much.

Perhaps losing this match will actually ignite the players' fighting spirit and truly pave the way for their title defense.

Jackson tried to comfort himself with this thought, but deep down, he just couldn't believe it.

Because you're facing a different opponent.

The shadow that Forrest Gump cast over Los Angeles has long haunted Lakers players, coaches, and fans.

If it were a team they hadn't played against much in the past, the reaction wouldn't be this strong.

Many fans looked frustrated and had lost faith in the game.

Especially after the timeout, O'Neal missed a turnaround hook shot in the low post.

Gan Guoyang and Van Exel set a pick-and-roll, Gan cut to the outside, received the ball at a 45-degree angle, and hit a mid-range shot—damn, it went in again!
Many fans started to cover their heads, especially some young fans wearing baseball caps and McGrady No. 1 jerseys. They were probably experiencing the playoff power of Forrest Gump for the first time.

It hurts, it hurts so much.

McGrady tried to turn the tide with one-on-one plays, but he was double-teamed and his ball handling wasn't very good.

When McGrady lost to the Trail Blazers in the 2000 Western Conference Finals, he was still very young and not yet ready to take on a major role.

After winning the championship in 2001 and having a breakout performance in the regular season this year, McGrady officially became the team's primary perimeter player.

However, in this game, some of his ball handling was too simplistic and crude; he just wanted to rely on his talent and try to force shots and solutions like he does in the regular season.

However, once his shooting touch falters, his inefficiency will harm the team.

Furthermore, the Lux used a lot of zone defense tonight, and McGrady didn't do a good job of breaking through the Lux's zone defense strategy.

He still used the same man-to-man defense method: running without the ball, catching the ball, turning and shooting, or dribbling and breaking through, stopping suddenly and pulling up for a layup.

As a result, constrained by the zone defense, most of his shots were long two-pointers, and coupled with his poor shooting touch, his performance was naturally subpar.

McGrady's performance finally improved at the start of the fourth quarter.

He first drove hard to the basket and scored with a layup, then made an off-ball movement and hit a mid-range shot at a 45-degree angle.

After O'Neal entered the game, he assisted O'Neal to dunk under the basket, which was the second connection between the two in this game.

However, the point difference did not narrow because Gan Guoyang started to break through from a low position.

He received the ball repeatedly in the low post, turned and hooked the ball, made a layup, and drew fouls, displaying the same ferocity he had in his youth.

Because the Lakers were very accurate from three-point range tonight, they didn't dare to double-team him easily. As a result, McGrady scored a basket, and Gan Guoyang responded with a basket of his own.

The point difference remained around 8 points, and the Lakers were unable to find a way to turn the tide.

With four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Lakers scored four more points, bringing the deficit to five.

Gan Guoyang's turnaround jump shot missed, giving the Lakers a chance to turn the game around.

O'Neal received the ball, and then he suddenly realized that the person guarding him had become Forrest Gump.

His steps were a beat too slow as he turned around, so the message could only be passed outwards, which also gave him a chance.

Fisher's three-pointer from the top of the arc! Making it was the horn for a comeback.

The ball spun around the rim but didn't go in, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound!
A monster with 42 points and 22 rebounds, he dribbled the ball across half-court, seized the opportunity when the Lakers were on defense, suddenly accelerated and drove to the basket, jumped and dunked the ball!
Holly, who came over to help defend, was knocked out of bounds and was called for a blocking foul, resulting in an additional penalty.

Gan Guoyang landed as if nothing had happened, high-fived his teammates, and prepared to shoot a free throw.

Nicholson stared at Gan Guoyang and continued, "Unfair game, unfair game!"

(End of this chapter)