The Golden Age of Basketball
Chapter 2000 - 44: Unfair Game
Pure offensive slaughter halted the Lakers.
Staples Center was filled with an uneasy atmosphere. Did Ah Gan penetrate through again? š»š³š¦š¦šøāÆš·šÆš°š£āÆš.š¤šš®
How many more times do we have to endure such situations?
Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang returned to the bench, drinking big gulps of water, feeling dissatisfied.
Iāve played this well, shooting perfectly in the third quarter so far, yet weāre only leading by 8 points!
Gan Guoyang also knows he canāt make every shot; there will be misses eventually.
An 8-point lead, facing a team like the Lakers, is not stable.
The overall team strength is still somewhat lagging. Although the Radiant Players have performed well and the Lakers havenāt, itās just a slight advantage for Radiant.
Gan Guoyangās scoring solo, and his teammates couldnāt keep up the pace to launch a wave of attack.
OāNealās consistent output prevented the Lakers from trailing too far behind, always keeping their comeback chances alive.
Thus, Gan Guoyang canāt sit down yet; he has to stay on the court and continue to fight, holding the ground.
Over at the Lakers, Phil Jackson is able to stabilize the situation, despite Jack-Nicholson cursing madly as if he escaped from an asylum.
"We might not be able to go back to Los Angeles, not back to Los Angeles!"
"Being Black-balled, youāre fired Phil, youāre fired!"
Nicholson, always a die-hard Lakers fan, tends to be rational because heās a star, after all, needing to maintain his basic image.
But tonight, with the match not even finished, Nicholson is clearly under stress, really worn out by Ah Gan.
From regular season to playoffs, from ordinary games to Christmas battles, to the Western Conference Finals, how many times has Ah Gan killed them?
Other spectators urged Nicholson not to be agitated, the game is far from over, with the series having just begun.
Nicholson finally calmed down a bit, but muttered in his exclusive seat: "Itās over, itās over, this Sonny, impossible to beat. Heās already figured out how to kill us."
This guy might have acted too much, with a bit of drama king possession.
The pause ended, returning to the game, where the battle entered a fever pitch.
Gan Guoyangās thought was indeed correct; he couldnāt score indefinitely. When he couldnāt score, Radiantās offense came to a halt.
The Lakersā defense was indeed quite formidable; the veterans finally entered a hundred percent state.
Tall and strong forwards and guards blocked Radiantās passing and breakthrough paths, increasingly powerful physical confrontation, wearing down the shooting touch of the Radiant Players.
Young players make mistakes too easily. Gerald Wallace was fouled twice by Pippen, giving Pippen four free throws, and had to rest.
The little panther still has a long way to go, many things to learn.
Old Tang, as Lakers chased the score, daringly executed a three-guard play when just 2 points behind.
Terry Porter, Steve-Kerr, and Van Exel, this lineupās perimeter defense is practically suicidal.
But Old Tang knew the offensive issues needed solving now, with Lakersā strong and tight double-team consuming Ah Ganās touch, someone had to step up to crack Lakersā fierce double team.
Van Exel took the court, immediately raiding the basket, hitting a floater, pulling Radiant out of danger zone.
On defense, Radiant contacted the defense, gambling on Lakers missing their threes.
As it turned out, they really couldnāt sink them. Lakersā three-point shooting was off all night.
Gan Guoyang firmly controlled the rebound, seizing a chance for a counterattack.
Ball-handling change of pace, then direction, using not-fast speed to cut into the basket, challenging OāNealās defense, drawing a foul on OāNeal!
OāNeal, called for a foul, stomped his feet in frustration, not thinking the referee was unfair, but that he shouldnāt have committed the foul.
Four fouls now (previous foul should be an error, corrected), with four minutes left in the third quarter, he could only sit down, which was highly unfavorable for Lakers.
Gan Guoyang stepped up to the free-throw line, taking deep breaths to adjust muscle state and shooting feel.
Both free throws hit, 75:69, the lead gap extended back to 6 points.
Seeing Gan Guoyangās both hits, Nicholson below grabbed his hair and said: "Finished, he found his touch again! His formās back again!"
Nicholson, not surprisingly a Lakers fan tormented by Gan Guoyang for many years, grasped his rhythm and state direction very accurately.
With OāNeal off-court, Lakers played more outside, Tracy McGrady broke through and scored at the rim, finally getting a basket.
But Gan Guoyang immediately responded with a mid-range shot at a 45-degree angle, hitting!
Lakers truly cursed by the shooting, the three-guard spacing completely spread out, Lakersā double team very hesitant.
Next, on offense, Tracy McGrady got double-teamed by Gan Guoyang, the ball hitting his foot rolling out of bounds, a turnover.
Gan Guoyang caught the ball left side at 45 degrees, a shooting fake, shook off the double team, went to the baseline, bounced pass to Brad Miller, Miller caught it and scored with an easy layup.
"Finished, starting to pass now, shooting and passing, you donāt know what to do. Because whether you guard his shot or his pass, heāll choose the other and crush you with it! This is Ah Ganās unfair guessing game! Is the thing in the left hand or the right? Sorry, always in the hand you donāt guess! You know this, but you must guess and must fail! Xie Te!"
Nicholson muttered loudly, venting his inner anger and dissatisfaction.
Actually, this is quite good, venting and expressing it, then when the game ends itāll get better.
If accidentally winning, could be very happy.