[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-golden-age-of-basketball":3,"chapter-the-golden-age-of-basketball-the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1166":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Golden Age of Basketball",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1444697,1896,"Chapter 1166 - 20: An Imperfect Ending (Part 5)","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1166",1166,"\u003Cp>This was his first three-pointer in the second half, and his fourth three-pointer overall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right after, on defense, he blocked Armstrong’s mid-range shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Armstrong thought Ah Gan would stay inside as usual and not come out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who knew this guy would dart out like an arrow and catch Armstrong off guard with a block.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With possession, Gan Guoyang took big strides, dribbling forward like a truck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His driving attacks were dubbed \"Horror Impact\" by NBA players of the same era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s unstoppable, unbreakable; if you go for defense, you’ll likely give away a 2+1.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then you’ll get hit hard yourself, losing the battle and the war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the ’92 finals, the Bulls essentially fell to this Horror Impact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This season, the Bulls still have no way to stop this truck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They can only watch Gan Guoyang rush to the basket and score with a slam dunk with ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers widened the gap again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackson didn’t call a timeout, and Jordan quickly hit a three-pointer at the top of the arc to stop the bleeding for the Bulls!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jordan can indeed hit threes; this season, he’s especially excellent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gan Guoyang then made a terrible turnover.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He finally caught the ball in the low post, intending to make a bounce pass behind his back to Sabonis on the opposite side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he didn’t control his passing technique well, and the ball went straight out of bounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A turnover gave the Bulls a chance to close the gap, and Jordan wouldn’t let it pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another neat mid-range hit from the top of the arc, catching up by 5 points in a row!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gap has shrunk to 4 points; the Bulls are showing their resilience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the next play, Gan Guoyang held the ball low again, and three Bulls players double-teamed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time they finally managed to defend against Gan Guoyang’s hook shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Ah Gan can’t make every shot 100% of the time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bulls counterattacked, Jordan took the ball, stopping suddenly for a mid-range jumper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bingo! The Bulls are now just 2 points behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers didn’t call a timeout, as Terry Porter and Sabonis hit a high pick-and-roll, then pulled up for a shot to stem the bleeding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This helped the Trail Blazers to stop the bleeding; both teams were playing with increasing focus and precision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fans noticed that this Gan-Joe showdown seemed a bit different from before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both played in a more restrained manner, no longer attacking fiercely right from the start.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had become more mature, focusing more on defense, organization, and subtle support roles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although they are still prominent, attracting attention just by standing on the court without doing anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jordan’s mid-range jumpers in the third quarter were as sharp as flying knives, and his strategy to conserve energy in the first half was correct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Gan Guoyang’s efficiency declined somewhat in the third quarter, but he often supported the ball, organized, and drew the Bulls’ defense, creating better space for his teammates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Porter, Petrović, and Lewis made consecutive jumpshots, and if they missed, Gan Guoyang would grab the Offensive Rebound and pass it to teammates for another shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight, after grabbing the Offensive Rebound, Gan Guoyang didn’t go for the basket himself; he passed it to his teammates, while the Bulls dared not relax their defense in the paint with all attention on Ah Gan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang used this attention to keep misdirecting, occasionally delivering a \"Horror Impact,\" taking the Bulls by surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The third quarter was a spectacle, with the Gan-Joe showdown becoming more strategic and measured compared to its previous fiery nature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was less about youthful exuberance and more about control and planning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fans noticed this too, initially feeling that the game wasn’t as intense as before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But on closer inspection, perhaps more substance emerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, in a post-game survey, most fans expressed that they still preferred the previous Gan-Joe showdowns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially in the mid-’80s when Jordan was a dragon in repose and Ah Gan was a dragon that had just taken flight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their focused duels showcased heroic spirits dominating the field.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One had sword energy spanning three thousand miles, the other a mad blade cleaving mighty waves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both regularly scored 50, 60 plus points, rendering others mere NPCs and spectators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spotlight was solely on them; nothing else mattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That intense passion and feelings might never come back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the end of the third quarter, the score was 86:89, with the Trail Blazers leading the Bulls by 3 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Overall, the Bulls were in catch-up mode, and the Trail Blazers’ defense indeed wasn’t great.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But whenever the Bulls were catching up, Gan Guoyang could always lead his teammates to launch a counterattack and suppress the opponent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two sides entered the last offensive and defensive round of the fourth quarter; Gan Guoyang stayed on the court, and the Bulls dared not let Jordan rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bulls had suffered from this before, with the Trail Blazers utilizing Ah Gan’s stamina advantage during key moments when Jordan was not present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then widening the gap, by the time Jordan returned, it was already too late, and they would end up losing the game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So when Ah Gan continued to play, Jordan continued to play.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This once again proved that conserving energy in the first half and not clashing with Ah Gan in the third quarter was the right move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang received the ball in a relatively shallow position with his back to the basket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as the Bulls double-teamed him, Gan Guoyang made a behind-the-head pass to Sabonis under the basket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabonis turned around and dunked easily; their cooperation was extremely tacit, needing no communication.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jordan quickly received the ball at the left low post, performing a quick and elegant spin move followed by a fadeaway jumper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The speed of Jordan’s shot was lightning-fast; Lewis barely made it to double-team before Jordan had already shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang again received the ball at the same position, backing down in a shallow position, creating enough space for the inside cut.\u003C\u002Fp>",1020,"2026-06-06T01:41:51.304Z",1,"novelbin.me","676c1d51dc19d2b2944803ac40b29d04c9d95629ebe92ae4b3ad80a961868b76","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1315","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1165",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]