Good fortune is always alone, and bad luck often comes hand in hand.

The 1:2 deficit turned the tide of the series, but for the Trail Blazers, it was not so bad, and winning the fourth game could bring a draw back to the home court for the battle of Tianwang Mountain.

However, before the fourth game, Drexler sprained his left ankle in training, and the team doctor confirmed that Drexler would miss at least two games, which means that Drexler would not be able to play until the sixth game.

At that time, it was questionable whether the Trail Blazers would be able to return to Houston.

Injuries are inevitable on the playoffs, and Drexler has been plagued by foot injuries throughout the season, with good and bad attendance, and no one wants that in a high-intensity playoff game, but it happens.

The situation of the Trail Blazers has become extremely bad, Drexler is the key point of the team's outside tactics, a very important core player, without Drexler, the Trail Blazers are at least damaged in fast breaks, breaks, rebounding protection and other aspects.

The Trail Blazers, who were already lacking in athleticism, lacked the strongest assault point, which can be said to be worse.

On May 17, at the Summit Arena, the fourth game was played.

In response to Drexler's sudden injury, Ramsey pushed Jerome Cauchy to the starting lineup after some deliberation, and Jim Paxson continued to be the sixth man.

Cauchy has athleticism that is not inferior to Drexler's and has a better defense, but he has no offensive talent at all, and the burden of offense is more on Gan Guoyang and Vanderwicki.

The Rockets played the same game as last time, letting Ralph Sampson play against Gan Guoyang, front top and back, and stop Gan Guoyang from scoring high points at all costs.

Gan Guoyang made a desperate bet, holding the ball throughout the game and attacking the inside, slashing 25 points in the first half, giving the Trail Blazers a lead into the second half.

But the crazy scoring in the half court made Gan Guoyang extremely physically exhausted, and every shot he made on the offensive end had to consume a lot of energy, and his tasks on the defensive end were also extremely heavy, and Mitchell Sampson was no longer able to get Ralph alone, because Ralph Sampson began to use more basket jumpers to deal with Mitchell, and he and Olajuwon no longer used double low posts, but used high and low posts to increase offensive flexibility.

Gan Guoyang won a double forty in the last playoffs, against the veteran Jill Moore, after the game felt so tired that he couldn't do it, now against Olajuwon plus Sampson, no matter how good his physical strength is, he shot 18 times in the half, and most of them were singles, and he will feel unbearable, this is the Western Conference Finals.

In the second half, Gan Guoyang's physical strength problems began to be exposed, he could barely support it in the third quarter, and he finally couldn't hold it in the fourth quarter, the shooting rate on the offensive end plummeted, and the high-intensity defense of the Rockets finally took effect.

Without Drexler, the Trail Blazers' offense is missing a link between the inside and outside, and in the first three quarters, Gan Guoyang and Van der Verwich both played 120 percent of their offensive ability, but in the fourth quarter, the fatigue caused by too many singles and the poor performance of role players made the Trail Blazers plummet.

Just like the first game between the two teams, the Rockets resisted three quarters and collapsed in the final quarter, and the Trail Blazers, who resisted for 35 minutes in this game, were finally crushed, and the Rockets suddenly had a wave of 12:0 climax, which stretched the difference between the two sides to 11 points at once.

The pioneers, who originally maintained the lead in the first half, and then their advantage was eroded a little bit, fell in the deadly wave of attacks of the rockets - they couldn't prevent the continuous impact of the rockets at all, and the outside line was all over in one step, and even if Gan Guoyang was a thousand-armed Guanyin, there were two big Buddhas on the opposite side!

Unable to return to heaven!

The Trail Blazers, who lacked a big general, finally lost 107-119, the fourth game on the road, and after winning the first leg of the Western Conference Finals, they suffered the same situation as the Lakers, losing three in a row.

It is only one game away from being eliminated.

Gan Guoyang scored 41 points, 17 rebounds, 3 blocks, Vanderwig 29 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, but the other players were in no state, and the overall performance was not as good as the Rockets, so they could only swallow the bitter fruit of failure.

…………

"The Trail Blazers are about to suffer the same fate as the Lakers, and the Rockets twin towers are unstoppable."

"The Trail Blazers lost the general, and the Rockets won three games in a row."

"A repeat of the semi-finals? Can the Trailblazers regain confidence? ”

………

After the game, the media's attention was focused on the Western Conference Finals, after all, the Eastern Conference Finals on the other side are really not much to see, and it is only a matter of time before the Celtics enter the Finals.

Now it seems that the Rockets are close to the Finals, and many newspaper editors have begun to write articles recalling the 1981 Finals, when the Rockets also defeated the Lakers and led a super center.

In the past few years in the West, it seems that only the Rockets have been the biggest pain for the Lakers.

For the trailblazers? Sorry, come back next year, or Gan has done his best, but he's not good enough, or the Trail Blazers are just a regular season team etc......

Of course, this is only the part of criticism, no matter whether you win or lose, there will always be criticism, so it is relatively natural that there is a side that is optimistic about the pioneers.

Portland's media unanimously agreed this time that there is still hope for Portland, the Trail Blazers have not been eliminated, and there are examples in history of falling behind 1:3 to re-overtake and catch up, such as the Lakers in 1970.

Chamberlain, who is also following the series, said in an interview with a San Francisco media outlet that he thinks the Trail Blazers will make it to the finals, and that he will be there to watch Gan Guoyang play when the time comes.

Gan Guoyang didn't know all this, because after the end of the fourth game, he entered the state of preparing for the next game with all his might, and began to study the video carefully, and communicated with Ramsey and Bellman how to crack the Rockets' defense.

Yes, there is no point in sinking negatively, losing is losing, as long as the series is not over, we must continue to fight, this is what Gan Guoyang thinks in his heart.

In fact, if Drexler is in the fourth game, the Trail Blazers have a great chance to win, because Gan Guoyang and Van Dewejk are in good shape, and what they lack is the third point of attack and a breakthrough player with the ball, and Drexler can do both.

However, Drexler will not be able to pay until Game 6, and whether the Trail Blazers can survive Game 5 is a question, and the bitter lesson of the Lakers is bloody in front of them.

Gan Guoyang is very calm, but some people are not calm, such as Gan Youwei.

Since the playoffs, the Gan family restaurant closes at 7 o'clock every night, and the whole family gathers around the TV to watch the Trail Blazers games - although everyone in the Gan family is a basketball fan, as long as Gan Guoyang is on the court, the whole family will cheer for him.

They naturally watched the Western Conference Finals, and the whole family was happy at the end of the first game, but a week later, watching the Trail Blazers lose one game after another, until they fell behind 1:3, Gan Youwei was most worried not about the victory or defeat of the Trailblazers, but about Gan Guoyang falling into a low ebb because of the loss like he did in high school.

Therefore, when the game was over and Gan Guoyang returned to Portland with the team, Gan Youwei's phone call went to Gan Guoyang's Portland residence in the evening.

"Guoyang, have you eaten?"

"I've eaten early, what time is it, and I'm calling so late."

"It's late, I'm just getting off work, and a lot of people come to eat supper at night."

"What are you doing, rest early, my cousin said that you can rest and eat shares and play mahjong, and you are not short of money, don't exhaust yourself!"

"It's okay, it's okay, it's not that if you have a game, we'll close the door, and the business will come back in the next two days...... This, in business, there are losses and wins, so a little profit must also be fought for. If you lose it, you can earn it back next time you do business, and if you make it, you have to think about making good use of the money you earn, and then make more money, uh, anyway, you must have a good mentality, remember, keep a normal heart! ”

Gan Youwei said from the closing of the restaurant to the truth of doing business, in fact, he wanted to tell Gan Guoyang that victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, and if you lose, you will lose, and you will come back next time, but don't toss yourself.

It's just that Gan Youwei didn't know how to speak directly, he was afraid of touching Gan Guoyang's sore spot, so he came around in circles, which made Gan Guoyang a little crying and laughing, and talked to him about doing business.

But after listening to Gan Youwei's words, Gan Guoyang's heart was still warm, and suddenly he thought of the scene when Gan Youwei called to inquire in a hurry after losing the California championship in high school, and his nose was a little sour again.

"Okay Dad, I'm fine, I'm not a kid anymore, I didn't lose the final last year, winning or losing is a common thing, I know. And isn't the game over yet, don't give me a vaccination? ”

"Yes, the game is not over yet, keep it up!" Gan Youwei also encouraged Gan Guoyang for two sentences, and hung up the phone under Gan Guoyang's urging.

After making the call, Gan Guoyang lay down on the sofa heavily, although he said that he was fine, and he was also seriously preparing for the fifth game after the game, but Gan Guoyang also admitted in his heart that the morale of the other players of the Trailblazers was almost scattered, and if the next game was slightly hit, such as falling behind by 10 points at halftime, the team would fall apart like last year.

So, if you want to win tomorrow, you have to have a big win and turn the momentum around, otherwise, it's really hard to fight without Drexler's Trailblazers.

But it is not easy for a team that is 1:3 behind to win against the opponent.

So far, Gan Guoyang has no clue how to crack the rocket's defensive strategy against himself.

At this time, the phone rang again.

"Hey, Forrest Gump." It was Wang Fuxi's voice.

"What's the matter, Fuxi."

"I bought a ticket to Portland tomorrow, and I'm going to see your game."