The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 415 - 33 Do Not Let Your Guard Down

The Lakers’ strength this year is evident to all.

Magic Johnson’s maturity and improvement have been one of the hallmarks, leading the team in an offensive surge from the beginning of the game through the third quarter, with Johnson’s expression remaining calm throughout.

Gone was the rookie excitement of witnessing game-winning shots, and absent were the tears of frustration after losing to the Celtics; he now seemed indifferent to joy or anger.

Before the game, he shook hands with Gan Guoyang, hugged, and exchanged pleasantries without the deliberate estrangement and coldness of ’86 or the sincere enthusiasm and affection of ’85.

He had come to regard Gan Guoyang as a formidable opponent, and correspondingly, for Gan Guoyang, Johnson had also become a fearsome adversary.

On the Lakers’ bench, Morris Lucas was naturally swept out the door, Rambis left, Cooper retired, McGee left, and Larry Spriggs went to Real Madrid in Spain.

The Lakers’ bench went through a major overhaul.

Their interior lineup was younger, stronger, and more energetic with Duckworth and AC Green, while the perimeter continued to have the Sea-Calming Needle, Michael Cooper, in defense, and another guard, Wes Matthews, signed from the Spurs.

Matthews had an outstanding performance in last year’s playoffs against the Trail Blazers, scoring up to 31 points in a single game, which caught Jerry West’s attention.

Matthews was a short guard who bounced around multiple teams, a typical journeyman player known for great ability but bad character, often becoming a locker room bomb, disliked by other players and team management.

But correspondingly, players like him often possess exceptional talent, enjoy trash-talking, and are brave and aggressive on the court. They usually have a nickname: bench mobsters.

Matthews fit all these characteristics, and his arrival brought a sense of madness to the Lakers’ bench, an element that the team had always lacked.

He might have ADHD or attention deficit disorder, as he simply couldn’t stay still for long.

During team practices, when Pat Riley would give a speech, Wes Matthews found it impossible to listen quietly.

Every 30 seconds, he had to run off to dribble for a bit, then run back to continue listening to Riley’s talk.

Riley was stunned the first time he saw someone like this—what’s wrong with you? Do you need to refresh yourself every now and then?

He liked eating at McDonald’s, enjoyed Burger King, liked to stay out all night with no clue where he had gone to entertain himself but would show up on time for practice the next day.

Jerry West thought such an unstable element could inject some unruliness into the Lakers and bring a bit of fighting spirit to withstand the pressure from Gan Guoyang in confrontations with the Trail Blazers.

In the latter half of the third quarter, when Magic Johnson took a break, Wes Matthews came on and, with his sharp penetration and a counter-attack dunk that shocked the audience, helped the Lakers to open up a 10-point lead for the first time.

Matthews was incredibly fast, standing only at 6 feet 1 inch—with his actual height probably around 180 cm—and with short legs and arms, but he had a lightning-fast rate and an astonishing vertical leap, bringing a lot of energy to the court.

Last year in the first round of the playoffs, the Trail Blazers’ tall, strong backcourt was tormented by such a short guard, as he scored 31 points in a single game.

It was clear that the Lakers had come well-prepared in terms of roster configuration; Gan Guoyang’s early caution against the Lakers was completely justified.

Jack Ramsay called a timeout and brought in Dale Curry, instructing Curry to stay on Matthews at all costs, "Stick to him at all costs."

A rookie guard like Curry was best suited for tenacious defense, brimming with energy and aggressive on the defensive front.

Although skinny, Curry stood at 6 feet 4 inches, with relatively quick footwork to keep up with Matthews.

Gan Guoyang took a break off the court; he had been playing with his teammates throughout the third quarter, with only a few low-post one-on-one plays.

He scored once and chose to pass to the perimeter another time, but the shot did not go in.

After drinking some water to rehydrate, playing the Lakers required more energy than usual games.

The confrontation was intense, with frequent offensive and defensive transitions, and a high level of concentration was necessary.

The Lakers’ quality of offense and defense tonight were both quite high, with few turnovers and a high success rate.

Especially in the second half, the game entered the Lakers’ rhythm, and they did a very good job with the details.

They fought hard for offensive rebounds during the attack and interfered with the Trail Blazers’ single-player plays on defense—instead of blindly double-teaming Gan Guoyang, the Lakers fully disrupted the ball handlers, making it difficult for them to feed Gan Guoyang smoothly.

This was indeed a good defensive strategy, particularly after Michael Cooper came on, his harassment of the passing lanes was very effective, disrupting the smooth feeding of the ball to Gan Guoyang at least twice.

This disrupted the Trail Blazers’ rhythm of offense, the balance between solo plays and teamwork. So when it came to the rotation phase, the Trail Blazers suddenly couldn’t keep up, failing to score in two rounds and facing a counterattack that quickly widened the gap.

Gan Guoyang, known as the "king of the third quarter," only scored 7 points in the third quarter, and also had 3 assists. He used most of his energy on defense and setting screens for his teammates.

Without his strong, continuous scoring, the Trail Blazers struggled to keep up with the Lakers’ pace.

Especially during the transitions when Gan Guoyang wasn’t on the court, the Trail Blazers, lacking an inside barrier and a powerful offensive point, seemed to be at a loss on how to play.

"Our bench players have an advantage against other teams, but they are at a disadvantage against the Lakers, especially since Bill can’t play," Bobby Berman said, concerned. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Near the Trail Blazers’ bench, the Lakers’ star fan Jack Nicholson shouted at Gan Guoyang, "King of the third quarter! You played pretty badly this quarter!"

Gan Guoyang turned around and glared at Nicholson, his fierce look instilling a flicker of fear in Nicholson, who suddenly shut his mouth and stopped chattering.

At the end of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers were down 87:96 to the Lakers, trailing by 9 points.

Both teams scored high in the third quarter, the Trail Blazers got 30 points and the Lakers scored even more, securing 37 points and establishing their advantage.

During the break between quarters, Pat Riley repeatedly reminded his players, "Watch out for Ah Gan, watch out for Ah Gan! I don’t want to see him explode with three-pointers again!"

Clearly, Gan Guoyang’s stunning performance of reversing a game with six three-pointers had left a profound impact on Pat Riley. Now, the Lakers defended him even beyond the three-point line.

The fourth quarter began, and Gan Guoyang returned to the court. The rest he got in the latter half of the third quarter was essentially his last break of the game, as he would play the entire fourth quarter.

When subbed in, he took a deep breath, shook his hands, high-fived Jones, and re-entered the game.

Magic Johnson was still sitting off the court. In three quarters, he had contributed 24 points, 10 assists, and 2 steals, with a quite high shooting percentage.

The Trail Blazers initiated the offense, with Dale Curry dribbling past half court. All four players positioned themselves far out, as Curry passed the ball to Thompson at a 45-degree angle, then ran towards the left corner to set up.

Gan Guoyang firmly established his low post against Duckworth, unmoving like a rock—Duckworth couldn’t push him or squeeze through.

Gan Guoyang received the ball, pivoted inside, and made a left-handed layup, drawing a defensive foul from Duckworth and hitting the and-one free throw.

"Fuck, why can’t I push him at all?" Duckworth wiped his sweat. Gan Guoyang’s post-up was fiercely tenacious.

He hadn’t been that aggressive in the first three quarters, so why was he immovable like a stone in the fourth?

At the free throw line, Gan Guoyang hit the extra shot, 90:96, and the Trail Blazers narrowed the point gap slightly.

Wes Matthews tried to break through the middle with his speed, but his floater was disrupted by Gan Guoyang and didn’t go in.

Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound and, instead of initiating a fast break, passed the ball to Curry, saying, "Take it easy, no rush."

Curry understood and slowly dribbled the ball past half court.

As they crossed half court, Gan Guoyang shouted to Pat Riley on the sideline, "Pat, be ready to call a timeout!"

Then, he positioned himself deep on the left for a pass, a spot Duckworth couldn’t push him out of the three-second area.

Another precise pass from Thompson came through the empty space—there was no way to double-team with the depth of Gan Guoyang’s positioning.

Upon receiving Thompson’s pass, Gan Guoyang turned, faked out Duckworth with a move, then scored a layup and drew another foul from Duckworth!

Duckworth’s back-to-back fouls gave Gan Guoyang two consecutive and-one opportunities.

On the sidelines, Riley closed his eyes and sighed, thinking to himself that he damn well wouldn’t call a timeout!

But after Gan Guoyang made the free throw, Riley still obediently called a timeout.

In just two rounds, the lead shrank to 3 points, 93:96. It was time for Johnson and Jabbar to re-enter the game.

Riley thought to himself that they really couldn’t afford to relax their guard against Ah Gan for a second.