[{"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-1232":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},1444849,1896,"Chapter 1232 - 33: The Long Season (Part 6)","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1232",1232,"\u003Cp>\"Stop double-teaming Ah Gan, revert to one-on-one defense, I’ll move ahead and block him from receiving the ball!\" Olajuwon instructed his teammates to change their defensive strategy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Olajuwon’s judgment was correct. Initially, Riley was overwhelmed, as the long-awaited revenge made him overly concerned with outcomes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Olajuwon received the ball, he turned and cut into the basket, using his back to force Gan Guoyang into a defensive foul. He made both free throws, stabilizing the Heat slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when one looks at the score, the Miami Heat were already trailing the Trail Blazers by 8 points. The wrong decisions at the beginning put the Heat in a huge disadvantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This became a turning point in the game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Riley started to come to his senses. He subbed in Brian Shaw to strengthen the team’s backcourt defense, allowing Starks to rest for a while and prepare for the next offensive push.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beelman likewise had Petrović take a rest and brought in Mario Ely, strengthening the defense in a leading position, engaging in attrition against the Miami Heat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The latter half of the third quarter saw both teams engage in fierce physical confrontations. Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang were almost about to fight under the basket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the game deepened, the calm and gentle look in Olajuwon’s eyes diminished, replaced with more aggressiveness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two seemed to revert to their rookie days, when they were notorious for fighting often—three days for minor fights, five days for major ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang controlled the situation with his strength advantage through rebounds. In a scenario where both teams had low defensive shooting percentages, rebounds became the lifeline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In one offensive play, Gan Guoyang continuously grabbed three offensive rebounds. Olajuwon couldn’t hold back and roughly pushed him as he went for a layup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang staggered but didn’t fall; he immediately turned to charge at Olajuwon, but Sabonis quickly intervened between the two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Calm down, Sonny, calm down!\" Sabonis loudly reminded Gan Guoyang, who quickly calmed down, realizing it was the finals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The aggressiveness in Olajuwon’s eyes gradually faded away. He gestured an apology to Gan Guoyang while internally asking for Allah’s forgiveness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that push, Olajuwon had accumulated three fouls, so Riley wanted to take him off to protect him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Olajuwon refused to leave the court, saying, \"Are you crazy? If I leave now, we’ll lose this game!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Riley wasn’t crazy, just bewildered. Upon realizing, he canceled the substitution but felt extremely anxious inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Gan Guoyang making both free throws, the Trail Blazers expanded their lead to 10 points. Heat fans also felt anxious; could the Trail Blazers be unbeatable?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, the Trail Blazers’ performance so far was just average, but some players on the Miami Heat were underperforming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, Cliff-Robinson, who played a critical role in the Eastern Conference Finals, was almost invisible in this game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing his familiar old team, Cliff-Robinson played bewilderedly, hesitating between the interior or perimeter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His attempts from the perimeter were all misses, and in the low post, he faced consecutive blockages. Despite having a center’s height, he wasn’t contributing enough in rebounding and defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Riley selected him initially for his versatility, being a jack-of-all-trades, performing efficiently against the Bulls in multiple games.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once up against his former big brother, Portland’s Twin Towers, he appeared lost, putting immense pressure on the Heat’s offense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang frequently switched defensively to force Cliff-Robinson into misses, leaving him without a rhythm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the fourth quarter began, Cliff-Robinson finally received the ball outside and made his first mid-range shot of the game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The score moved to 75:67, with the Miami Heat trailing the Trail Blazers by 8 points, as time slowly slipped away, making the situation difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Riley constantly worried about Ah Gan erupting in the fourth quarter, using continuous offense to crush the Miami Heat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, such a circumstance did not occur. Gan Guoyang remained on the court in the fourth quarter, constantly setting screens for teammates at the top of the arc.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He frequently passed the ball to teammates, using the Heat’s defensive attention on him to great advantage. Tonight, Petrović and Lewis performed astonishingly well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Cliff-Robinson made his first mid-range shot, Petrović received Gan Guoyang’s assist and hit his sixth three-pointer of the game!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fatal three from a 45-degree angle on the left side—Riley, squatting courtside, turned furiously and slammed his tactics board onto the ground upon seeing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the way into the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers still had the stamina to hit shots from long range. In Riley’s view, this was a precursor to failure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He started pacing uncontrollably courtside, loudly directing players to defend intensely, run, move, exhaust the opponents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was the Heat who were trailing, while the Trail Blazers led. At this moment, the Heat players were indeed more exhausted, relying heavily on Olajuwon and Drexler.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drexler received the ball, made a forceful mid-lane breakthrough, intending to dunk against Ah Gan’s defense!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Direct confrontation in the air, Gan Guoyang perfectly timed his leap, stopping Drexler cold!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Glider was shot down, heavily crashing onto the ground, as Gan Guoyang secured the ball and made a long pass to the forecourt—Reggie Lewis executed a fast-break dunk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Riley immediately called a timeout; the gap had reached 13 points, with 5 minutes left before the game ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning to the bench after the timeout, Riley at first said nothing, his words stuck in his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His long-awaited revenge match, the finals prepped for over so many years—could the first battle really end like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the fans’ and audience’s view, the finals were fragmented with continuous ads and timeouts; whereas for Riley, it felt as if it passed in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>",948,"2026-06-06T01:41:51.875Z",1,"novelbin.me","4266edb71610cba5aca5cd72649f52f30c6f04ba56ba3494959516c2df65358e","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1233","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1231",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]