The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 450 - 68 A Trivial Beginning

On the evening of April 19, the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta welcomed the final regular-season game, a battle that was the focus of attention.

With its unique design, the Omni Coliseum’s roof was covered in huge conical shapes, appearing like a giant waffle from above and resembling a spaceship head-on.

Its exterior did not feature paint or cladding but instead exposed the steel framework, allowing it to rust and form a dense oxide layer in the air to protect the steel, a common anti-corrosion technique used on railways.

The Omni Coliseum was packed tonight, with the press section already filled with reporters from major newspapers, magazines, and television stations across the United States, all concerned about the outcome of the scoring title battle between Gan Guoyang and Jordan.

Due to time zone differences, the Celtics and the Bulls game started half an hour earlier than this one. As the game between the Trail Blazers and the Hawks was about to begin, the first quarter of the other game had already ended.

Bobby Beelman walked up to Gan Guoyang and said, "The first quarter between Chicago and Boston is over, Michael’s stats are out, do you want me to tell you?"

Gan Guoyang shook his head and said, "No need, no need to tell me, no matter how many points he gets tonight, it doesn’t concern me, I will do my best to perform."

Beelman nodded and said nothing.

Before the warm-up and entrance ceremony ended, the Trail Blazers players gathered in a circle.

Gan Guoyang didn’t say "Give me the ball," he only said let’s play well and win.

Though Gan Guoyang didn’t say it aloud, the Trail Blazers players all thought about giving Gan a boost.

Before the game, their slogan was no longer "Buddha bless." After Ramsay learned the truth, this slogan was temporarily suspended.

Ramsay, no longer trusting Gan Guoyang to suggest any Chinese slogan, changed it to the ordinary "Go Blazers."

However, since "Buddha bless" had helped them win the championship, after shouting out the slogan, everyone would silently recite a few "Buddha bless."

Bill Walton was even more devout, his hands clasped in prayer while murmuring "Buddha bless," hoping to stay healthy through the season.

After the opening ceremony, the players from both teams stood on the court, ready for the game to start.

The Trail Blazers’ starting lineup was the stable quintet, having already secured the Western Conference’s second seed with a record of 60 wins and 21 losses before this game.

This was the second time in Trail Blazers’ history that they had achieved 60 regular season victories. Looking back at the entire season, the Trail Blazers had some ups and downs, but Gan Guoyang’s consistently stellar performances had put the team back on track.

With the return of Bill Walton and the rise of Jerome Kossie, the team had reached a masterful level of control over the game, with only the Los Angeles Lakers in the entire Western Conference able to compete with them.

The Eagles Team, meanwhile, had secured the Eastern Conference’s second seed with a record of 57 wins and 24 losses, and the last game’s result—win or lose—couldn’t propel them past the Boston Celtics, who were ahead.

This match was a battle between the second seeds of the East and West, and the Eagles’ strength this season was not to be underestimated. Under the leadership of Dominique Wilkins and four years of coaching by Mike Fratello, they had blossomed.

Since the 1980 season, the Eagles broke the stranglehold of the Celtics, the 76ers, and the Bucks on the top two spots in the Eastern Conference, signaling to everyone the advent of a new era in the East.

Especially with Doctor J, Irving, retiring at the end of this season and the 76ers entering a rebuilding period, Dominique Wilkins, with his fame from dunking, rose up, with Atlanta dubbing him the new face of the League.

Wilkins was renowned for his dunks, but his scoring ability was just as formidable, with only Gan Guoyang and Jordan ahead of him in the League this year.

It was just that the other two guys were too dazzling, with Gan Guoyang also winning the Slam Dunk Contest, overshadowing Wilkins.

As the final battle would determine the scoring champion, it was destined to be no ordinary game, especially since Jordan had just scored 61 points against the Hawks. The people of Atlanta would not allow Gan Guoyang to also score high and become a stepping stone for the scoring title.

Before the game, Hawks’ coach Mike Fratello gave his players an order:

"We’ve already allowed Jordan to score 61 points, we absolutely can’t let Gan have his way this time!"

"This game, don’t let Gan score more than 50 points!"

Setting the goal at no more than 50 points was all Fratello could do.

After all, even saying not to let Gan score 40 points seemed a very difficult task.

If Gan Guoyang was determined to rack up a high score, 40 points definitely wouldn’t be a problem.

In fact, Fratello knew there was a better way to stop Gan Guoyang from scoring high: deliberately lose ground from the start, trail by 30 points at halftime, and then clock out.

From what he knew about Gan Guoyang, Gan wouldn’t pad his stats when leading by a large margin and certain of victory.

But Fratello also couldn’t accept his team easily giving up, especially not at their home court, where they were determined to defend Atlanta’s honor.

"Hold him off, let him get around 40 points, forget it," Fratello thought, "He and Jordan have scored 40 points enough times this year; it really doesn’t count for much."

With this mentality, Fratello arranged the defense, instructing his players to play well.

Soon after, Gan Guoyang stood at the center circle, ready for the jump ball against the Hawks’ center "the Tree" Rollins.

The Hawks employed a Twin Towers lineup, with 7-foot-1 center Rollins and 7-foot power forward Kevin Willis.

This pair of Twin Towers had great power, providing both offense and defense, and they had impressive size to match.

Rollins was once a member of the All-Defensive Team; he played with a tough style and was quick to anger.

In 1983, during a game, a confrontation erupted between him and Danny Ainge, and the two engaged in a wrestling match on the Boston Garden floor.

Despite Ainge’s smaller stature, he managed to take down the larger Rollins with technique, and the two grappled on the floor.

Once on the ground, Rollins’ height put him at a disadvantage, so he chose to attack verbally rather than physically, biting Ainge’s hand fiercely.

Because Rollins’s nickname was "the Tree," this incident came to be known as the "Tree Bites Man" event.

Apart from Ainge, Rollins had conflicts with other tough guys in the Eastern Conference, such as Ma Hong and Lan Bi’er.

However, Gan Guoyang wasn’t afraid of Rollins; if this guy couldn’t even handle Ainge in a wrestling match, how could Guoyang possibly be afraid of him?

As for Kevin Willis, who was in the ’84 class with Guoyang, he boasted an impressive height and muscle mass. However, at 7 feet tall, his wingspan was only 6 feet 10 inches – a rare case in the league where a black interior player has a wingspan shorter than his height.

Some players have such long arms that they seem able to reach their knees with their hands; it’s questionable whether Willis could even reach his waist.

He later earned the nickname "the Tyrannosaurus of the court."

Gan Guoyang never feared the Twin Towers; he always had ways to deal with these taller interior players.

During the jump ball, both players touched the ball simultaneously in the air. Guoyang exerted force mid-jump and directed the ball toward his teammate.

Vandeweghe got the ball and passed it to Terry Porter, and the game started off uneventfully.

From the start, Rollins prevented Guoyang from getting the ball by playing front defense.

Guoyang suddenly turned into the post, and Porter lobbed the ball to Guoyang.

Willis, from the other side, immediately came to assist in the defense, joining Rollins in a pincer movement.

Despite being surrounded by both men, Guoyang still muscled his way to create space and put the ball in the basket.

The referee called Guoyang for traveling.

The main referees for tonight were Hugh Evans and Mike Mathis.

It was Evans who called traveling on Guoyang. Guoyang turned to him and complained, "Hugh, are you overheating again?"

At that time, the NBA hadn’t introduced a zero-tolerance policy yet, and Guoyang, who was always assertive in the league, often complained and taunted the referees.

Evans is most remembered for the 1984 Finals "Air Conditioning Game" at the Boston Garden, where the temperature reached 36 degrees Celsius due to a broken air conditioner.

During that game, Jabbar needed oxygen on the sidelines, while Evans, the main referee, passed out from the heat and dehydration, only to be replaced by a backup referee.

Evans was unfazed by Guoyang’s joke, shook his head, and said, "Your hands are still quite cold; they cooled me down."

Evans’ words turned out to be prophetic. In the next offensive play, Guoyang received the ball on the right side and went one-on-one against Rollins, but his hook shot still missed.

In the ensuing counterattack, Doug Rivers hit a mid-range jumper.

Subsequently, Guoyang tried to make a turning move in the left low post and went up for a sure layup, but once again, it didn’t go in.

The Hawks launched another counterattack, and Dominique Wilkins received a pass at the left 45-degree angle and daringly took a three-pointer.

The ball went in!

The Hawks started with a 7:0 scoring surge, with Guoyang missing all three of his offensive attempts — his hands were indeed ice-cold.

Jack Ramsay called a timeout, as Guoyang’s opening performance didn’t look good.

His shots were fine, but they just weren’t going in.

Tom Heinsohn, who was commentating on the night’s game, said, "Sonny might be too anxious. He’s too desperate for the scoring title, and it’s affecting his performance."

If Guoyang had heard Heinsohn’s commentary, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed with him.

During the timeout, Ramsay didn’t make any adjustments; he just let Guoyang sit and rest on the bench.

A rough start was all too normal; not every game begins with consecutive hits.

Ramsay believed that Guoyang would adjust on his own.

[Great actions and thoughts all have a trivial beginning.]

————Albert Camus, "The Myth of Sisyphus"