The Portland Trail Blazers' 60-point massacre against the Miami Heat quickly made headlines in American sports that day and sparked a lot of controversy.

The controversy didn't come from the 60-point margin, but with Sabonis' final three-pointer, as the Trail Blazers led the Heat by 57 points just seconds before the end of the game, just one point away from the all-time highest.

At this time, as usual, the Trail Blazers should have given up on offense, and there was no need to create a 60-point largest point difference in history, but Sabonis threw a three-pointer "uninterestingly" and scored, nailing the Heat directly to the shame post.

In the post-game interview, Sabonis was also besieged by reporters, who didn't care why he had the ability to shoot three-pointers as a center, but concentrated their firepower on why he had to shoot that three-pointer when he was leading so much.

"I... I didn't know, I had a big open spot in front of me and I wanted to try a three-pointer, I didn't even think about the score on the court at the time, and I didn't know what the biggest margin in NBA history was, I just shot a three-pointer and it went in, and that's it. Sabonis replied tepidly when asked repeatedly.

He didn't mention that Gan Guoyang shouted at him in front of the midfield to "shoot one", Sabonis is a newcomer, but he is not stupid, he knows that if he says so, it means that all the fingers will be pointed at the team's boss Gan Guoyang.

But Gan Guoyang is not a boss who makes his younger brother carry the black pot, and he shouted at Sabonis on the sidelines instead of whispering to him, many people heard it, so Gan Guoyang did not hide it, and when he was interviewed by reporters in the locker room, Gan Guoyang generously took the responsibility, saying that he asked Sabonis to vote.

"That's right, it's me, I made Sabonis shoot three points. You ask me why, it's simple, I'm used to it, every time I see Sabonis taking the ball outside the three-point line in practice, I can't help but shout at him 'shoot one', and we both often compete with each other for three-pointers in practice, and his shooting skills are amazing, and a lot of people don't realize it. ”

Gan Guoyang told Dick Stockton, a well-known reporter of the NBA, that Dick will not only do live commentary on CBS TV, but also go to the scene of the game to interview the players, and it is naturally reassuring to give Dick such a difficult task as interviewing Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang is also telling the truth, he shouted that sentence purely out of subconscious habit, just like someone on the field who likes to shout "throw one", Gan Guoyang also likes to joke about Sabonis when he is more relaxed in training, but this time he shouted it seems to be the wrong time.

After Gan Guoyang's remarks came out, they began to attract criticism, and the well-known poisonous newspaper, the New York Chronicle, which often referred to Ewing Black's incomplete body in New York, commented, "Two centers from socialist countries have created the biggest massacre in NBA history in the way they are least good at, which is undoubtedly a provocation to American basketball." ”

In the context of Gorbachev's upcoming visit to the United States, similar criticisms undoubtedly make people feel that there are some interesting points in it.

However, the power of basketball is obviously not so great, and the NBA is just an entertainment league, and all words and actions ultimately come down not to politics, but to entertainment.

But the whole league has also started a "reverse Trail Blazers" wave, just like "Beat-LA", the league began to have the sound of "Beat-PT", and everyone began to care about who will be the first team to beat the Trail Blazers this season.

The next stop for the Trail Blazers is Atlanta, so Atlanta fans are extremely excited, and they feel that they are ready to beat the Trail Blazers and take Portland's first blood.

So, when the Trail Blazers arrived in Atlanta on a regional airliner, they found that a number of banners had been erected at the Atlanta airport, all with slogans about how the Eagles were going to beat the Trail Blazers and how bad Gan Guoyang was.

"Hey, look, Gan, 'You're better suited to move bricks, Gan!' Drexler picked one of the banners and said to Gan Guoyang.

"I know English, so don't read it out loud! I'm going to make these little cubs look good. ”

For a regular-season game, that's a bit overscale, and greeting from the airport like this is basically only seen in the NBA Finals.

Gan Guoyang was also a little angry, because in all the slogans, the vast majority were aimed at him, including someone who wrote on the slogan "Vote for one!" "Sarcastic Gan Guoyang, Draxler, this guy also stimulated Gan Guoyang one by one.

Gan Guoyang was enraged, he had never lost a game in Atlanta, and every time he faced Kevin Willis, Gan Guoyang would make Willis understand that long arms are good.

But Atlantans think they can end the Trail Blazers' winning streak and make a major free agent signing in August, when they took a two-time MVP winner on the free agency, supercenter Moses Malone.

The signing is believed to have propelled the Hawks directly into the ranks of championship contenders, at the age of 33, Moses Malone was still at the end of his prime, and in 1988 he was still averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds per game at the top interior level.

Then, the Hawks acquired All-Star guard Reggie Tois from the Sacramento Kings in another trade, and the team's roster was further expanded.

The Hawks then bought Dudley Bradley, Ray Tolpot, and Duane Ferrer in the free market to fill their bench, and the Hawks, who were unfortunately eliminated in the 1988 playoffs, suddenly became ambitious.

However, the Hawks have stumbled a bit since the start of the new season, winning and losing a lot, and they have suffered three straight defeats in the Texas Triangle that every team has to go through at the end of November.

Since then, the Hawks have won three in a row at home, and they have beaten the Celtics, Spurs and Washington Bullets in a row, especially against the Celtics, Dominic Wilkins scored 38 points on Bird's head to lead the team to a big victory over the Celtics, and the momentum is also considered to be unique in the East.

As a result, Atlantans are also confident in the Hawks, believing that the Trail Blazers' winning streak will be ended at Atlanta's All-Around Arena.

………………

When Gan and his team-mates arrived in Atalanta, they didn't take those words to heart, and a team needed to learn to withstand pressure from all sides, and they quickly threw themselves into pre-match training.

Trail Blazers players with a lot of experience know that after just experiencing a big win, the team is most likely to have a mood of underestimating the enemy, and it is likely to be followed by a tough battle.

The best way to prevent this emotion is to train hard in the gym.

The team also attaches great importance to this game, after all, from the book lineup, Atalanta at this time is indeed quite strong, the old overlords Moses Malone and Cliff Livingston are guarding the inside, and their top players Dominic Wilkins and Reggie Tois on the outside, and the No. 1 position is controlled by Doug Rivers, and the strength is not strong.

Moreover, the Hawks are a team known for their toughness defensively, and a spear like the Trail Blazers really needs to be a florist if they want to score points in Atlanta.

Gan Guoyang also tried his best in training and threw himself into the confrontation, because he knew that tomorrow's game would require a lot of physical endurance, and he would not be able to shoot outside as easily as he did against the Heat.

"Stuck position Avidas, stuck! Don't stare at the basketball, and don't stare at the basket! The one who is staring at you! Remember, keep an eye on people, don't try to grab rebounds, the more you want to grab rebounds, the easier it will be for your opponent to get them. ”

Gan Guoyang shouted loudly while fighting Sabonis with all his might under the basket.

In tomorrow's game, Sabonis is likely to have a one-on-one conversation with Moses Malone if he comes off the bench, even at the age of 33, Moses Malone can still grab an astonishing 5 frontcourt rebounds per game, and the frontcourt rebounding ability is still unique in the world.

Although Sabonis is tall and strong, he still underestimates the fierceness of the competition for rebounds in the NBA.

Gan Guoyang always emphasized to Sabonis that he must pay attention to the card position, not staring at the rebound and staring at the ball, which will only allow Moses to drill into the inside line to grab a favorable position, which is almost to send rebounds to Ma Long.

For the first time, he felt that Gan Guoyang never seemed to exert his full strength from the usual training to the competition, whenever he felt that Gan Guoyang was really powerful when he went all out, he would soon find that Gan Guoyang still had spare strength.

"I'm so tired, I don't know if I have the strength to play tomorrow." Sabonis said to Gan Guoyang sweating profusely after training.

"Tomorrow is going to be tougher, be mentally prepared, the Eagles are always difficult to play against and our inside opponent is Moses Malone, so no matter what time I play against him, I'm going to give it my all because he's really tough to play against. But he's also a good teacher, you can learn a lot from playing against him, and tomorrow you'll have the opportunity to play one-on-one with him, and although he's old, he's not old, just like the old man from Abdul-Jabbar. ”