The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 322 - 58 Silverdome Killer_2

So these old referees who have been around since the 50s and 60s all have tough personalities and are full of courage, sometimes even more aggressive than the players themselves.

Gan Guoyang respected these hard-nosed referees; he cursed at Lan Bi’er, calling him a "wimp", and went over to help Vandeweghe up.

The referee called a two-shot foul, and it seemed Vandeweghe was a bit dazed as he only made one of the two free throws.

Subsequently, Drexler’s shot from the outside didn’t hit the mark, Gan Guoyang wanted position inside, but Melvin Turpin entangled fiercely, even beginning to hug him.

It was clear that the Pistons were starting to magnify their actions.

Lan Bi’er easily grabbed the defensive rebound as Turpin finally let go; Guoyang didn’t complain, but said, "Melvin, so you want some contact, huh?"

Turpin didn’t respond—he just ran ahead with his head down. The Pistons missed from the outside, and Turpin pulled at the corner of Guoyang’s jersey—something Lan Bi’er had taught him—which prevented Guoyang from getting the rebound.

Tripucka grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on a putback, Guoyang looked at Turpin and thought it was interesting; the big guy had picked up some moves for the physical game.

Guoyang remained unfazed; this kind of physicality was nothing out of the ordinary in the NBA paint, and little gestures were an unspoken rule among players—as long as it wasn’t too excessive, everyone used them.

Guoyang had always preferred head-on confrontations over complaining to the referees, and Turpin daring to use such tactics actually made the game more interesting.

Afterward, Guoyang held off Turpin in the post, unaffected by all of Turpin’s tugging, and after receiving the ball, he turned and powered in, pushing past Turpin to score with a layup.

"Not bad, but you need to try harder, Melvin!" Guoyang encouraged Turpin to step up the physicality after scoring.

Turpin began to get excited, he found that Daley was right—Ah Gan was just another player, what was there to be afraid of compared to the likes of Jabbar and Moses?

Play normally, and when necessary, show him a little color!

The more Turpin played, the more excited he became, hitting a mid-range jumper from the outside.

Then, on defense, he pushed Drexler away a bit too aggressively as he went for a layup.

Guoyang warned Turpin, "Hey! It’s okay to get physical, but watch it with the dirty plays!"

However, Lan Bi’er said, "Well done, Melvin, that’s how you deal with them. Don’t be afraid, I’ve got your back."

Isiah Thomas also came over and patted Turpin, whispering to keep playing that way and to give Ah Gan some hard hits later on.

Guoyang was getting angry; he had almost no on-court conflict with opponents this season, and everyone had been peaceful.

Guoyang even felt that the league was taking on a cleaner, more sportsmanlike spirit—how good it was to just play basketball earnestly; why revert to underhanded tactics here at the Silverdome?

Drexler made one of his two free throws, meaning that in four offensive attempts, the Trail Blazers only scored 4 points, which certainly benefited the Pistons.

Thomas quickly pushed the ball up the court and then used his speed to dribble between his legs past Kolter, making a sudden stop under the basket and scoring with a bank shot.

The Pistons continued to close the gap, and their defensive actions, ignited by Turpin, began to escalate.

Thomas shoved Kolter, and Lan Bi’er tripped Thompson under the basket, but the referees made no foul call.

The Trail Blazers’ offense was disorganized, the ball couldn’t reach Guoyang, who came out to receive the ball, only to be immediately double-teamed by the Pistons.

Guoyang made a beautiful straight pass to Drexler, who drove to the basket for a layup, only to have it blocked by a Lan Bi’er cover!

Lan Bi’er barely jumped; he just squeezed Drexler, then lightly tapped the ball with his hand.

Under strong physical pressure, Drexler’s jump was insufficient, leading to the block while the entire Silverdome erupted in jubilation.

Thomas sent a beautiful long bounce pass, and Joe Dumars caught the ball and scored with a layup!

73:68, the Pistons had narrowed the gap to just 5 points.

Guoyang knew his team needed stability, once again calling for the ball in the low post, where Turpin used his sturdy elbows to repeatedly jab and push against Guoyang’s back.

Though the sensation was uncomfortable, Guoyang stood his ground, received the ball, turned, and took a leaning shot, scoring once again!

The momentum that the Pistons had built up with their comeback was smothered by Guoyang’s consecutive baskets.

Lan Bi’er attempted a three-pointer from the outside, but it missed, and Drexler got the long rebound.

As Gan Guoyang was defending on the perimeter, he immediately took off down the court, Drexler delivered a bounce pass to him from the wing.

Gan Guoyang caught the ball and leapt for a dunk, only to feel a strong force from behind. He was shoved hard, losing his balance and falling to the ground.

However, Gan Guoyang didn’t roll and tumble out of bounds like Vandeweghe did; he skewed his body, landed on his right foot, took a step back with his left, and managed to stand firm!

He turned around to see it wasn’t Lan Bi’er who had pushed him. To his surprise, it was Melvin Turpin, staring at Ah Gan with a look in his eyes that was hard to decipher.

Guilt? Provocation? Or was it glee?

Gan Guoyang didn’t care what it was. Half a second later, the only thing in Turpin’s eyes was fear, because as soon as Gan Guoyang steadied himself, he dropped the ball and charged at Turpin like a raging tiger.

Turpin, panicked, instinctively stretched out his arms to block Gan Guoyang, only for Gan to grab Turpin’s left hand, then wrap his left leg around Turpin’s, and with a forward push executed a "supine knife" maneuver from Chinese wrestling, slamming the 260-pound Turpin hard to the ground.

As fans at courtside later recalled, the move was executed with such speed, and then Turpin was down, "feeling the floor tremble."

The referee’s whistle sounded only after Turpin was down, with Strom’s distinctive continuous whistle—a reason he was known as "The Piper."

By then, players from both teams had gathered around. Gan Guoyang got up and saw Lan Bi’er running back, yelling "Eject him, eject him!" Without hesitation, Gan lunged at Lan Bi’er and threw another punch right at his nose!

Lan Bi’er was completely unprepared. He never expected Gan Guoyang to swing at him—the incident had nothing to do with him.

And weren’t you trained in wrestling? Why resort to fists now? Did I waste my time practicing defensive techniques this summer?

When Gan Guoyang threw that punch, the Pistons players realized the situation had escalated, especially Thomas.

Thompson and Kenny-Carl tried to hold back Gan Guoyang, but they simply couldn’t. Drexler and Vandeweghe didn’t even bother to try.

After knocking down Lan Bi’er, Gan Guoyang began looking for Thomas. The Pistons players didn’t dare approach; whoever came close would be thrown by Gan.

Vinnie Johnson was hurled into the spectator seats by Gan, whereas Joe Dumars was taken down with an effortless leg hook.

Spotting Thomas, Gan targeted him and charged fiercely. Thomas was no fool; seeing the danger, he turned tail and ran like mad!

Given his slight build, if Thomas took one from Gan, he might actually not survive!

Thomas had never run so fast in his life; real panic set in as he dashed around half the court to hide behind referee Strom.

Strom quickly stepped in to block Gan, saying, "Enough, enough! Don’t do this, Ah Gan! That’s..."

Among referees, Strom was considered strong, but how could he compete with Gan Guoyang’s strength?

Gan shoved Strom aside, intent on continuing his pursuit of Thomas, but after two steps, he found his right leg to be incredibly heavy.

Strom was clinging desperately to Gan’s thigh, beseeching him to stop the chase.

Ramsay had also run over by then, urging Gan to calm down.

Seeing even the referee intervene like this, Gan let Thomas go.

He effortlessly pulled Strom to his feet and said, "Time to work, Earl. Go ahead and eject me."

Strom got up, and by then, the Silverdome was in complete chaos. Some fans were shouting abuses, but no one dared to throw anything at Gan.

The referee made an exaggerated gesture to eject Gan from the game, yet before leaving the court, Gan went over to check on Turpin, who was thoroughly dazed from the fall.

Supported by the team physician, Turpin was utterly confused. Upon seeing Gan, he even asked, "Oh, Sonny, what are you doing here?"

Gan replied, "I’ll be gone in a moment. Get some good rest, Melvin. Good night."

With that, Gan jogged off the court, unobstructed by anyone at the Silverdome.

From then on, Gan would carry the nickname "Silverdome Killer."

And this one-sided sudden outbreak of violence would later be termed by NBA historians as the "Silverdome Massacre."