Chapter 464: Intrigue and Intriguery
The game soon became a battle between Magic Johnson and Gan Guoyang, with each showing off their talents and constantly destroying the opponent's defense, Gan Guoyang using his score and Johnson using his passing.
However, in the fourth quarter, when the game entered the white heat, Gan Guoyang's incomparably abundant physical strength and unstoppable feel soon made the Lakers unbearable, Johnson led the Lakers players to support hard, but the Trail Blazers made a targeted arrangement on the defensive end, that is, to let Gan Guoyang defend against Worthy.
Worthy's offensive ability in the low post is really terrible, as a small forward, his turning speed is too fast, and his finishing ability under the basket is also quite strong, whether it is Worthy defense or Drexler or Buck Williams defense, the effect is not good.
But Gan Guoyang is the best choice to defend Woxi, in terms of speed, Gan Guoyang is not much worse than Woxi, in terms of strength, Gan Guoyang has an absolute advantage, and Gan Guoyang's arm span and defensive ability, Woxi is not sure about beating Gan Guoyang one-on-one.
In the past, the reason why the two were out of place, in addition to taking care of Gan Guoyang's physical strength, was mainly because of the existence of Abdul-Jabbar, now Abdul-Jabbar is not the same, he is not a threat on the offensive end in this game, and he is restrained to death, so in the crucial fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang was able to free his hands to strangle the Cobra on the defensive end.
When Cobra Worthy was restrained by Gan Guoyang, the problem for the Lakers in the fourth quarter arose, that is, they lacked a reliable interior offensive point, and although Worthy was a small forward, he was not only the Lakers' best fast-break finisher, but also the most reliable low-post scoring point other than Abdul-Jabbar.
Now that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is out of threat, the Lakers are the only ones who can provide reliable inside scoring when it comes time to score in the fourth quarter.
As a result, Worthy's scoring reliability plummeted, and under the one-on-one marking of the best defensive player, Worthy missed three consecutive offensive shots, while Gan Guoyang, who was the defender, was able to score continuously on the offensive end, and the score between the two sides suddenly stretched to 5 points.
The 5-point gap is the biggest lead the Trailblazers have taken since the start of the game, which does not seem to be a particularly big disadvantage for the Lakers with strong offensive power, but the Lakers really found that the 5-point gap is like an insurmountable barrier for them, as long as the Lakers score a goal, Gan Guoyang will definitely be able to return one on the offensive end.
When Gan Guoyang used a variety of offensive methods to score on the Lakers' interior, the Lakers finally slowly felt a sense of powerlessness, Riley looked back at his bench, and there was no interior player who could go up and curb the crazy Sun a little.
And Abdul-Jabbar sat on the bench, watching Gan Guoyang elegantly put the ball into the basket with one hook after another, his eyes were full of the shadow of his past, his hair was still very thick, his limbs were still very flexible and strong, and his score was also like chopping melons and vegetables.
Riley knows that the momentum of Gan Guoyang and the Trailblazers is unstoppable, once Gan Guoyang's touch comes, it is really the same as Abdul-Jabbar back then, there is no dead end in the distance of 18 feet, as long as he lets him shoot, he can score.
When Riley replaced Magic Johnson at the last minute, it was announced that the Lakers chose to surrender, and the difference at this time was only 9 points, which was not an insurmountable barrier, and a miracle could still happen, but Riley just announced that he gave up, and the Magic complained to Riley when he got off the court, and he played very well in this game, with a super triple-double of 34 points, 12 rebounds and 22 assists, but he couldn't withstand Gan Guoyang's angry slash of 47 points, 19 rebounds, 7 blocks, 4 assists and 4 steals.
It was an uncompromising MVP night, a game that belonged to the MVP of the regular season, and a game that truly exemplified the value of a superstar.
When the game was combined with Sue, the audience stood up and cheered for Gan Guoyang, and David Stern also gave a standing ovation in the audience.
In his post-game interview, Gan Guoyang was also full of confidence in the team, believing that the current Trailblazers are the best Trailblazers in his career so far.
After returning to the locker room, all the Trail Blazers staff gave Gan a simple celebration to celebrate his regular season MVP award.
The victory of this game was commented by the media as a victory of the hard power of the Trail Blazers, and it was a complete suppression of the Lakers, which was still in the case of the Trail Blazers' poor opening performance and chasing points for most of the half.
And as these commentators expected, the two sides began the second game after a day of rest, and this time, the Trail Blazers did not let themselves fall into a passive situation and slowly chase the points, but took the lead from the start.
The so-called first strike is stronger, the Lakers are older than the Trail Blazers, and after the Lakers are flipped to the ground, they are pressed to the ground to fight, and it is not so easy for the Lakers to turn over.
And after the Trail Blazers have Sabonis, there are similarities in playing style with the 1986 Rockets, the absolute advantage of the inside line makes the Lakers very uncomfortable, Gan Guoyang and Sabonis poked inside, the offense and defense are really two big iron pillars, the key two iron pillars can also be inside and outside, the technique is delicate, and the tactics arranged by Pat Riley quickly collapsed in the face of the absolute advantage of the inside.
The Lakers have lost the lead, and Magic Johnson still has a good performance, but his teammates are weak, especially on the inside, they can't resist the collision of the Trail Blazers' inside, and there is no chance from beginning to end.
At 122:104, the Trail Blazers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers by 18 points in Game 2, and in everyone's opinion, they have one foot in the Finals.
And then go to Los Angeles, the Trail Blazers are not afraid to play at the Great Western Forum Arena, although the Lakers who are fighting at home are terrible, but the Great Western Forum Arena has never been the home of the devil, but the enthusiasm of the audience is not terrible, the Trail Blazers have won all the games in the Great Western Forum this season, and there are many Gan Guoyang fans in Los Angeles.
So, the Trail Blazers went to Los Angeles with slow confidence, and in the first half of Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals on May 26, as well as in the first three quarters, the Trail Blazers kept the Lakers under bay as they did in the first and second games.
Just when Lakers fans were expecting a miracle, Pat Riley made a strange substitution, replacing James Worthy late in the third quarter and then replacing Tony Campbell, a small forward who used to play for the Detroit Pistons, at the end of the bench.
No one understood Riley's intentions, but soon, Campbell began to play on the field.
Toward the end of the third quarter, Campbell chased Drexler during a return defense, and of course he couldn't catch up with Drexler, but he didn't jump at the same time after the glider jumped, but pushed Drexler hard in the back.
Drexler fell directly into the audience on the bottom line, this time it was so hard that Drexler lay on the floor for a long time without moving.
The Trail Blazers' bench was on the side of the basket, and everyone could see this action clearly, Gan Guoyang was originally fast, and when he saw Drexler being pushed out by such a dangerous move, he immediately ran to the bottom line to see what happened to Drexler.
And Cauchy and Buck Williams on the court didn't say a word, and went directly towards Campbell with their fists, which was a ruinous move at all.
There was chaos on the field, the action on both sides of the game was already more intense, Campbell ignited the powder keg this time, the Trail Blazers were excited, and all the bench rushed over.
At this time, Gan Guoyang was still worried about Drexler's situation at the bottom line, and the team doctor rushed over to inquire and check, Drexler slowly stood up with the help of Gan Guoyang and the team doctor, and said that he was okay after moving.
At this time, the fight on the court has already started, and the Lakers are not to be outdone, how can they allow the Trail Blazers players to go wild on their own home court, but Campbell, who is at the center of the battle, seems to know that he is in danger and keeps hiding back.
Gan Guoyang couldn't get in outside with his fists clenched, and Bellman also rushed up and hugged Gan Guoyang to prevent him from being impulsive, otherwise Gan Guoyang would have rushed over and killed Campbell.
With the persuasion of the staff and the mediation of the referee, the conflict was finally resolved, but the Trail Blazers also suffered heavy losses, Cauchy and Buck Williams were directly sent off, Drexler needed to go back to the locker room for further examination because of the impact, and the Lakers only lost a Campbell at the end of the bench.
Although others were also involved in the conflict, the law did not hold the public accountable, and the NBA rules at that time were relatively relaxed, so they did not accept punishment.
As a result, the Lakers, who had a full lineup, launched a crazy counterattack against the Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter, and the Trail Blazers, who were missing three main players at once, could still withstand the Lakers' offense, Cauchy and Williams were both important defensive players, and the pressure on Gan Guoyang's shoulders instantly increased.
At this time, he was like the Magic Johnson of the first two times, and he couldn't stand it alone!
As a result, in this dramatic contingency, the Trail Blazers were eventually reversed by the Lakers, and to make matters worse, in the NBA's official information the next day, Buck Williams and Cauchy would be suspended at the same time, and Drexler was diagnosed with a tail vertebrae contusion during the examination and may have to miss the entire Western Conference Finals.
A conspiracy seems to be about to succeed.