As an emerging team that just entered the league in 1980, the Dallas Mavericks relied on several consecutive years of high-quality drafts to quickly get rid of the belly of the fish and successfully complete the rise.

After a bitter debut season from 1980 to 1981, the 1981 draft became a Taobao hypermarket for the Mavericks.

They first used the valuable No. 1 pick to acquire DePaul University's Mark Aquili, a short forward with a strong attack that quickly became the Mavericks' number one star.

They then drafted Kansas State University's Blackman with the No. 9 pick in the first round, and he and Aquili formed a backcourt duo that would strike fear into the league a few years later.

In addition, the Mavericks also picked up a treasure in the second-round draft that year, they won Joey Vincent with the first pick in the second round and the 24th pick overall, and surprisingly, Vincent's average points per game in the first season of the second-round "champion" was even higher than Aquili's regular champion, reaching 21.4 points! How could the calf not feel that he had picked up a treasure.

The three 1981 rookies quickly developed into the core of the Dallas Mavericks' roster, which exploded in 1983-1984 as they finished fourth in the West and reached the semifinals in the playoffs.

It's just that in the semifinals, they met the Los Angeles Lakers, the dream division of the West, and were eliminated without suspense.

And the 1984 draft conference can be described as full of talent, which is recognized as a draft year, and the Mavericks know that their opportunity to strengthen is coming again, and this time they want to supplement the strength of the interior.

However, this time the Mavericks miscalculated, they did not have the same amount of money as in 1981, after Olajuwon, Gan Guoyang, Jordan, the three destined emperor superstars were drafted, the Mavericks missed the last inside superstar embryo Charles Barkley, and instead chose Jordan's fellow brother, Sam Perkins.

It's hard to say that the Mavericks' choice was wrong, Sam Perkins' performance in college was worthy of his pick, and his first season after coming to the Mavericks should be said to be decent, averaging 11 points and 7 rebounds per game in the season, which is a qualified interior lineman, but far from the Mavericks' ideals.

The Mavericks' results have also improved compared to last season, with Aquili's form declining partly due to the Mavericks' release of Pat Cummins, the main power forward in the '84 season, because they thought Perkins could replace Cummins.

The Mavericks' season ranking fell to sixth, and they had to face the rising Portland Trail Blazers, and the reason why the Trail Blazers were able to rise was because of the rookie in the team, Gan Guoyang.

For the Dallasians, they can only silently envy and envy in their hearts, who let the Trail Blazers play a bad role.

This emotion was brought to the game, and the Dallas people were naturally eager to tear the Trail Blazers into pieces, let them stand in and lie out.

So, when the Mavericks ended the first half with a 64-55 lead over the Trail Blazers at their home court, Mavericks fans went crazy with joy, and they felt that the Mavericks must have won this game nine times out of ten, because no one in the Trail Blazers could limit Aquili and Blackman's offense.

"Our defence was all lost! Do you think they lost by more than 40 points in the last game, and they will just surrender in this game? No! They won't! They will only perform better to wash away the shame of the last game! If you don't realize this, then the shame will be on our heads! At half-time, Ramsey yelled at the team in the dressing room.

The Trail Blazers' performance in the first half was average, and the young players were still affected by the away game, the most direct manifestation of which was that the Trail Blazers made a staggering 13 turnovers in the first half, and in the last game in Portland, they only made nine turnovers in the whole game.

The direct impact of high mistakes is to be counterattacked by the Mavericks' backcourt double shots, constantly losing points; And the deeper effect is that the Trail Blazers' offensive rhythm is disrupted, and their quick counterattack is completely ineffective.

Gan Guoyang was also as Ramsey expected, it was difficult to get another chance to shoot in the first half, and the Mavericks launched a car ** battle against Gan Guoyang, and took turns to deploy troops to harass Gan Guoyang.

This is completely the treatment of a superstar, but Gan Guoyang's strength has not yet reached the level of a superstar after all, especially because he has too little playoff experience.

In the first quarter, he fell into the defensive trap of the Mavericks, because of two consecutive fouls in the card position, and sat on the bench early to rest; In the second quarter, in the face of the wheel battle, he had no offensive feeling at all, with 6 heads and 2 hits in the half, no free throws, and only 4 points, which was really two days of ice and fire compared to the previous game.

The Trail Blazers played normally, still the top scorer Vanderwich on the outside and Sampson on the inside, and the two veterans decisively took the gun when the young players were up and down, maintaining the difference in a range that could be caught up.

But if the Trail Blazers still can't defend the Mavericks' double guns in the second half, and the offense can't blossom more, they will be more than lucky on this road trip, and Gan Guoyang's "send the Dallas people to the end" will also become a joke.

"Take your courage and take the Mavericks down in front of the Dallas, and I want to tell you that there's nothing more enjoyable than taking down an opponent on their doorstep. If the Mavericks can do it in Portland, we in Dallas, we can kick their ass just as well! Ramsey made the final mobilization, and Ramsey always knew that the Trail Blazers' poor performance in the first half was still a matter of form, and the Trail Blazers did not make major mistakes tactically.

Halftime passed quickly, and instead of spending much time in the locker room, the Trail Blazers came to the court early, where the Mavericks' players may still be working on their tactical set-up.

"Coming on the pitch and feeling the 'praise' of the away fans gives you strength." As soon as they entered the field, the Trail Blazers players could hear the cheers of the fans in attendance.

"Hey Gan! You should be a good cook! Or go to work at a gas station! Instead of standing here and playing! Some fans on the sidelines began to yell at Gan Guoyang, and many fans next to him were laughing.

At halftime, not only did the players get into the groove, but some fans who had drunk a little bit of alcohol also stepped into the role and began to mentally attack the Trail Blazers players.

Gan Guoyang glanced at the fan sitting behind the technical table, the guy was holding a beer in one hand, and raised the other hand to give Gan Guoyang the middle finger, with a smile on his face.

Gan Guoyang silently noted the location of this guy's seat, and at the same time, the Mavericks' players also re-entered at this time, and there were thunderous cheers from the scene, this is the advantage of the home team, except for the dozen people opposite, everyone else is supporters.

The second half of the game, in a noisy voice, restarted.

The Trail Blazers served first, and they were still a regular starting lineup, with Valentin and Drexler dominating the backcourt, and Drexler's performance became more and more consistent towards the end of the season, including the first two games of the playoffs.

In this game, Drexler was holding back his strength to play well, but he performed mediocre under too much pressure, and he struggled to play against the experienced Blackman on the defensive end.

"Let go of Clyde!" In the first goal of the second half, Gan Guoyang stepped forward to cover Drexler, and then he said to Drexler.

After saying that, Gan Guoyang blocked Blackman in front of him with a solid single block, and Drexler saw that the gap came out and quickly burst in from the left side with the ball.

Pull-up jump shot!

Drexler chose to shoot 10 feet from the basket.

"Phew!" The goal didn't go in, and Drexler seemed to be a little impatient.

But the ball bounced right in the direction of Drexler, who jumped in succession, his unstoppable bounce ability, and took the rebound off Perkins' head.

After getting the rebound in the frontcourt, Drexler dribbled and took a step forward, and in the face of the blocks of two Maverick players, he still put the ball in the basket and scored two points!

"Good job Clyde!"

"You have to come on, Gan, my score is higher than yours." Drexler said to Gan Guoyang.

Both men scored just six points in the first half, one on 2-of-6 and the other on 2-of-5, both of which were underplayed.

"But I'll play two ......games against you," Gan Guoyang said with a smile.

However, Drexler has no heart to reply, he must keep a close eye on Blackman, who has already scored 18 points in the first half, and can no longer let him do whatever he wants.

Blackman was known for his offensive power in college, appearing on the cover of Sports Weekly's magazine for his shot at Oregon State University, which led the University of Kansas to the 1981 NCAA round of 16.

In the Mavericks, Blackman is also a well-deserved second-in-command, he and Aquili are often not bright in the east and bright in the west, and they beat the master to death with random punches, and the offense of the two is too strong.

This relatively small guard is proficient in all scoring skills, especially his superb dribbling skills and breakthrough ability, which will be difficult for any defender to stop him from scoring.

"You can't stop me, you can't stop me, do you understand?" The Mavericks attacked, and Blackman dribbled from beyond the three-point line while speaking to Drexler, who was defending him.

It was really hard for Drexler to stop him because Blackman was so fast, and as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly changed direction and dribbled away from Drexler and broke through from the left.

Blackman's shoulders were narrow and his body was so thin that it felt like he was getting under Drexler's armpits.

Such a player is the most damaging to the opponent's defensive system, because one person can't defend him at all, and someone must make up for it.

In the first half, Gan Guoyang fouled prematurely, which caused the Trail Blazers to be empty for a long time, even if Gan Guoyang played, he did not dare to make up for the defense easily, and once he committed three fouls in the half, it would be troublesome.

And in the second half, Gan Guoyang will not let Blackman casually enter the three-second zone.

He blocked the route to the basket on the left side as fast as he could, and at the same time waited for Blackman with open arms, he now knew that against Blackman, he couldn't just reach out, and Blackman's ability to make fouls could be equal.

However, Blackman was really very fast, as soon as he saw Gan Guoyang blocked, he immediately slowed down, but before Gan Guoyang could paste it, he feinted again to change direction, or from the left, to the direction of the bottom line!

Gan Guoyang put away his arms, he couldn't block the foul, as soon as he saw that Blackman was still going to the bottom line, Gan Guoyang also pressed to the bottom line, trying to squeeze Blackman at the bottom line and couldn't move.

But Blackman was like a loach, before Gan Guoyang pressed up, he drilled through the gap, jumped behind the rebound and went straight to the basket!

"Bang!" But Blackman's layup didn't work! The tried and tested breakthrough in the first half, this time was followed by Drexler from behind, and a big cap was nailed to the rebound!

Blackman's goal was too lonely, he didn't choose to pass, but was successfully defended by Drexler, and this defense is not only the credit of Drexler, but also Gan Guoyang's pressure that makes Blackman not have too good space and opportunities to shoot.

“come-on，run！” Drexler couldn't help but get a block and a rebound, and he's going to launch a fast break!

The Trail Blazers' fast break didn't get up in the first half, they made too many turnovers, and now Drexler slowed down a little as he pushed the fast break and began to pay attention to the Mavericks' defense and his teammates' movements.

Gan Guoyang, as a center, has the same fast-attacking consciousness as a striker, Drexler has just run, and Gan Guoyang has already flown to the frontcourt.

But the Mavericks' interior Perkins and Bryant are back to the basket and look like they're running out of fast-break opportunities.

However, the Mavericks' defense was not formed, and the position was still scattered, and Drexler saw Gan Guoyang open his hand in the low position on the right side, and knew that this was an opportunity to cooperate.

He quickly passed the ball to Gan Guoyang, who was in the low post, and as soon as Gan Guoyang got the ball, he was immediately caught by Perkins and Bryant.

Gan Guoyang didn't want to attack by himself, he passed the ball back to Drexler, and at this time, Draxler had already cut into the basket from the middle!

A beautiful two-man cooperation, outside pass inside, outside line air cut, inside a low post pass, Drexler received the ball and easily made a layup to score two points!

The Trail Blazers scored four points in a row in the second half, and the score between the two sides was already 64:59, and the gap came to 5 points.

"Pass beautifully!" Drexler and Gan high-fived in celebration as the young twin stars of the Trail Blazers finally began to show their power together.

In the regular season, Drexler spent most of his time on the bench, and he didn't have much time to play on the court with Gan Guoyang.

The most on-court cooperation between the two, that is, after Gan Guoyang picked up the rebound, he made a long pass to Drexler to launch a fast attack, but this kind of ball is only one or two games a game.

In the second half of the season, with Deluxler promoted to the starting line-up, the two began to work together more and more.

The power of such a combination finally began to play on a superstar stage like the playoffs, and Gan Guoyang scored a lot of points in the second game from the cooperation with Drexler.

Now, in the second half, the exquisite cooperation of the two has once again become the team's weapon for chasing points.

"Stress them! Stress them out! The Mavericks' head coach yelled from the sidelines, and what he dreaded most was seeing the Trail Blazers' offense regain its feel.

However, the Mavericks are not a defensive powerhouse, and they rely mainly on crazy offense to put pressure on their opponents.

They also have the bonus of home-court advantage in this game, so they can force the Trail Blazers to make a series of mistakes in the first half, and now, the young people of the Trail Blazers have eased up, and it seems that it is not so easy for them to press the Trail Blazers again.

Offensively, the Mavericks also suffered a major setback, as their leading scorer, Aquili, injured his finger while battling Vanderwich for a rebound in the third quarter and had to be treated off the court.

The Mavericks finally lost their first-half lead in the middle of the third quarter, and as Gan Guoyang received a pass from Drexler, he broke through the middle and scored a dunk to give the Trail Blazers a one-point lead at 77-76.

"its-for-you-baby!" After the "grudge" Gan Guoyang dunked successfully, when he passed by the technical table, he pointed to the fan who mocked him at the beginning of the second half and said, he could see that the fan's face was red.

“**-you！ (Grass Nyima!) The drunk fan watched the team being overtaken by the Trailblazers, and also watched Gan Guoyang's state recover, and he could only give Gan Guoyang the middle finger.

But this is not over, Gan Guoyang didn't score a goal later, he had to run to the side of the technical table and say "its-for-you-baby" to the fan.

And in this game, from the third quarter onwards, Gan Guoyang said 10 words of "its-for-you-baby" in front of this poor fan, including 4 free throws.

Under the leadership of Gan Guoyang and Drexler, the Trail Blazers, who have returned to their normal form, did not give the Mavericks much of a chance once they regained the lead.

Aquili suffered from a finger injury and had a much worse second half, scoring 20 points in the first half and only 10 in the second, and he and Blackman both scored 30 points, but they couldn't stop the Trail Blazers from winning on the road.

122:109, the big score is 2:1, and the Trail Blazers got the match point with a constantly very easy victory.

Gan Guoyang scored 20 points in the second half and scored 26 points in the whole game, although it cannot be compared with the performance in the second game, but it is good enough.

Ramsey originally thought that Gan Guoyang could only score 15 points in this game, but Gan Guoyang's performance in the first half almost confirmed Ramsey's thoughts.

At the end of the game, the buzzer sounded, and the fans at the scene were almost gone, leaving behind the fans who were willing to accompany the team to face the defeat.

Gan Guoyang and his teammates are about to leave with a victory.

“hey！ it’s-for-you!” When Gan Guoyang walked into the players' tunnel, he suddenly heard someone talking to him, and when he turned his head, he turned his head to find that it was the fan who was fighting with him on the sidelines.

And he was holding a picture of himself in his hand, on which a player with a number 11 fell to the ground and was trampled on the ground by another player with a number 24.

Needless to say, No. 11 must refer to Gan Guoyang, and No. 24 is naturally Aquili, but Aquili was unable to play at his full strength because of an unexpected injury.

"Unless you buy a team to play against the Trail Blazers, you're never going to win against me!" After saying that, Gan Guoyang left, and he didn't want to worry about the fans after winning the game.

Gan Guoyang didn't expect that this fan who was competing with him would later buy the team, and he was Mark Cuban, who started a business in Dallas at the time.

〖