[{"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-480":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},1443697,1896,"Chapter 480 - 97: The Tumor","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-480",480,"\u003Cp>Riley’s timeout was indeed not timely enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rationally, he knew that this game was a must-win for the Lakers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But emotionally, he hadn’t reached that point of desperation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The previous frenzy of kicking doors at home had caused his emotions to peak too early.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, with a bit of that release, Riley wasn’t very on his game tonight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the timeout, Riley loudly reminded his players to stay tight, to clamp down on the Trail Blazers on both offense and defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he said that, Riley himself seemed to lack confidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having been uprooted at home, the initiative in the series was no longer in the Lakers’ hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Defensively, aside from heavy double-teaming, they found no way to handle Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jabbar’s aging was a critical weakness for the Lakers; without a challenger in the paint, the Lakers could continue their domination in the Western Conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once a new inside dominator like Gan Guoyang emerged, Riley and the Lakers had less and less confidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The paint was still decisive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the timeout, the Lakers made no significant adjustments offensively, still relying on Jabbar to attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After receiving the ball, Jabbar, with his slow steps, avoided Gan Guoyang’s block with a sweeping hook shot, scoring two points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This old superstar was the Lakers’ most reliable Sea-Calming Needle; Riley dared not think what the Lakers would do to confront those rising new insiders if Jabbar retired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the Trail Blazers’ offensive round, Hornacek stayed on the court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mychal Thompson replaced Bill Walton, with Gan carrying on his play.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vandeweghe sat down to rest, Porter paired with Hornacek in the backcourt, Drexler replaced Kossie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang got the ball in the low post; the Lakers immediately double-teamed, and Gan passed to Thompson. As the double-team dispersed, Thompson passed back to Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time Gan Guoyang burrowed deeper, turned around after receiving the ball for a jump shot, and scored, using his hips and legs to hold off Jabbar while leaning forward to prevent him from jumping to interfere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan had a good grasp of such technical details, a crucial factor in his high success rate in solo situations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With an off shooting day from the outside, Magic Johnson chose to squeeze near the three-second zone and hit a turn-around hook shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was an important scoring move for him—the intensity of the fray in the second quarter had dropped, and Johnson tried to push inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Porter missed his outside shot, and the Lakers counterattacked, with Johnson cutting into the paint for a hook shot again, narrowing the score to 33:36, just a 3-point deficit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afterwards, Gan Guoyang came out to play the pick-and-roll with Porter, drawing the defense before delivering a direct pass into the paint to a cutting Hornacek, who scored an easy layup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was Gan’s fifth assist of the night; Hornacek scored 6 points, his performance becoming more and more comfortable on the court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lakers committed a turnover in the subsequent counterattack, with James Worthy dribbling the ball out of bounds, possession to the Trail Blazers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hornacek attempted a central drive off a screen, but his layup was disrupted by Jabbar and missed; the ball, in a scuffle that looked destined to fly out of bounds,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang leapt to save the ball, crashing into the stands, while the ball flew back into Thompson’s hands, who then cut to the basket for an easy layup!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah Gan’s diving save! Woh! What a sacrificial play, the Trail Blazers have rebuilt their lead, 33:40, up by 7 points!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bill Schonely loudly praised Gan’s bravery; it was a gutsy move, completely losing balance and crashing into the baseline crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few female fans took the opportunity to grab at Gan’s body, too many hands for him to bother with at the moment; he quickly got back up and rejoined the game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lakers, after the loss of ball, seized the opportunity to launch a fast break, a five-on-four situation, but Johnson’s pass was intercepted by Drexler.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drexler, seizing the moment, sent a long pass to Gan, who had just gotten up and returned to the court, and Gan slammed the ball in an uncontested dunk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire Memorial Coliseum erupted, 33:42, the gap widened to 9 points, and the situation became increasingly dire for the Lakers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight, the Trail Blazers’ offense and defense didn’t overly rely on Gan Guoyang; he became part of the team, and they all played exceptionally well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>James Worthy posted up Thompson and turned around for a hook shot that missed, Drexler grabbed the rebound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The whole crowd stood up; it was a good chance for the Trail Blazers to extend their lead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Lakers were tenacious, A.C. Green blocked Drexler’s drive to the basket from the middle lane.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The referees called a foul against the Trail Blazers for an over-the-back violation during the rebound attempt, it was the Lakers’ ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both teams then missed consecutive shots, as if a lid had been put on the goal of Memorial Coliseum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a 2-minute scoring drought, the Lakers patiently moved the ball, finding an opportunity on the left side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael Cooper hit a three-pointer! 36:42, the Lakers stubbornly closed the gap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, the second quarter had already entered its latter half, with less than four minutes left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang hadn’t rested for even a minute in the first half, so Ramsay called a timeout to give Gan a break.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the bench, Gan Guoyang spoke up, \"I won’t rest for a minute in the first half, but I need you guys to step up on both offense and defense, to widen the lead even more!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The implication was clear, the more they led by, the more he might be able to steal some time to rest!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jack Ramsay handed the clipboard to Gan Guoyang, suggesting, \"Why don’t you talk?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang shook his head, \"Playing is exhausting enough, now you want me to coach too? Don’t be lazy, Jack!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the timeout and back on the court, Ramsay set up a play which had Gan Guoyang and Thompson crossing at the elbow positions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This off-the-ball cross was meant to confuse the defenders, and as soon as Gan Guoyang moved out, the Lakers’ defense got dragged along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thompson cut to the basket, Drexler made a direct pass to him, and he scored an easy layup!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>36:44, an eight-point lead. Michael Cooper then took a pass from Johnson and hit a jump shot, 38:44.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still a six-point game, it seemed the teams would end the first half with a relatively small margin, probably within ten points, around five points or so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, there was a shift on the court as Terry Porter controlled the ball past half court, suddenly accelerated and drove straight to the basket, scoring a high-difficulty, left-handed, in-air layup!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Johnson wanted to fight speed with speed, crossing the half court into the three-point line and taking a mid-range jumper, which missed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His shooting was very off tonight and still hadn’t improved, only scoring from one mid-range shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers countered, Porter drove into the three-point line, stopped abruptly and took a jump shot, scoring!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Porter scored four points in a row, 38:48, bringing the lead to ten points!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Riley immediately called a quick timeout, but the Lakers’ offense didn’t improve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jabbar caught the ball in the low post, was double-teamed, and passed to Scott.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scott’s mid-range shot missed and the scramble for the rebound ensued under the basket; Worthy got the offensive rebound, but his layup was blocked by Gan Guoyang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the subsequent frantic battle under the hoop, Johnson got the ball and drew a foul from Drexler on his layup attempt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relying on free throws, the Lakers finally scored, but their shooting percentage tonight was alarmingly low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a little over two minutes left in the first half, the Lakers had only scored 40 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Riley hadn’t anticipated such a poor offensive showing from his team tonight, with the player’s shooting percentage being frustratingly low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers’ offensive efficiency was average because Gan Guoyang had given up many opportunities tonight to let his teammates take shots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pace of the game was under the Trail Blazers’ control and they were playing more and more comfortably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drexler, taking advantage of a screen from Gan Guoyang, once again drove to the basket, scoring with an airborne change-of-hands layup!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this game, Drexler was the protagonist on the offensive end, and his dunks and layups were very impressive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lakers tried to exploit James Worthy, but their two low-post offense attempts failed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the counterattack, Drexler received a pass from Gan Guoyang on the flank, drove through the middle, and scored with a dunk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then a ball was passed to the corner, and Vandeweghe hit a three-pointer!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers finished the second quarter with a 7:0 offensive run.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The score reached 40:55, with the Trail Blazers leading the Lakers by as many as 15 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Johnson’s last long-distance three-point attempt missed, the Lakers ended the half with only 40 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the half-time break, Bobby Berman found it almost incredible, saying, \"The Lakers only got 40 points.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang replied, \"And I only scored 16 points.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But we’re leading by 15 points, this was our best half.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s right, we blew the Lakers out in the first half.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stick to it in the second half, we’re definitely going to take this game.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As long as we keep playing like this, we can win the series.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the locker room, morale was high as everyone spontaneously turned their gaze towards Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang felt uneasy, saying, \"What are you all looking at me for? Is it because I scored less that we’re leading by more?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one else spoke, only Ramsay said, \"That could be the case, luckily you’ve realized your mistake in time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone burst into laughter, the locker room filled with a cheerful atmosphere.\u003C\u002Fp>",1656,"2026-06-06T01:41:13.547Z",1,"novelbin.me","8572ec92052863d4887f89e209328aa622baf476caf2c76b3e5f558098756004","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-481","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-479",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]