[{"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-556":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},1444023,1896,"Chapter 556 - 57: The Most Intense Match Part 2","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-556",556,"\u003Cp>Johnson and Jabbar also returned to the court, and Nielsen knew that if you didn’t put pressure on Guoyang in defense, he would suddenly exert a force on offense and tear your defense apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the point gap widened to more than 10 points, the Lakers would be in trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nielsen really wanted to use a three-guard lineup, eager to use a flexible and varied offense to quickly catch up in points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that meant confronting Johnson and Worthy, suppressing the dissatisfied sentiments within the team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the end of the fourth game, these sentiments had already begun to emerge, and in this game, they became even more apparent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Nielsen had been coaching the Lakers since 1982 and personally nurtured Worthy and Johnson to their prime, he could have made such a move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The problem was that it was his first year with the Lakers, where Johnson and Worthy had already won a championship together, and their teamwork and experience were considered effective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Nielsen wanted to prove that his approach was correct, he still needed more time and more victories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, if he didn’t apply his approach, how could he win against the Trail Blazers?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He fell into a deep paradox, a problem faced by coaches who take over a championship team mid-season.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You inherit a good foundation and talent, but it also means they have a set of established habits and systems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you want to break these habits and systems, you’ll face massive risks and could lose the support of the players or even provoke a rebellion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Pat Riley took over the Lakers, he followed Westhead’s approach and was lucky to win the 1982 championship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Following failures in ’83 and ’84, Riley finally put his own stamp on the Lakers in 1985.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without the Portland Trail Blazers, Nielsen could have followed this process, smoothly cruising to the finals and winning the championship without much problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This year, apart from Portland people, no one was a match for the Lakers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, without the Trail Blazers and without Guoyang, Riley wouldn’t have been dismissed, and Nielsen wouldn’t have had his turn to coach the Lakers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nielsen had heard that Riley was overwhelmed and ousted by Guoyang, and now he was beginning to understand why Riley had fallen apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Guoyang’s game ability truly exceeded others by a large margin; he was omnipresent and possessed astonishing stamina.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To break him, you needed to employ extreme measures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nielsen had many ideas, but in the noisy Great Western Forum, these ideas couldn’t be realized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the stands, Buss and Jerry West were intently watching the game situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lakers had a good owner and a good manager who cared deeply about the team and were heavily invested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, as a result, the coach’s ideas were often restrained, and many of Nielsen’s innovative strategies weren’t accepted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the situation on the court was highly unfavorable for the Lakers, Gan Guoyang had returned and joined Gilmore to form an inner line Twin Towers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lakers’ defensive attention had dropped, and Gan Guoyang began to receive the ball in the low post and overpower his opponent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Gan Guoyang had the chance to go one-on-one in the low post, it was essentially handing out free points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With consecutive successful low-post offenses, the Trail Blazers extended their lead to 9 points, prompting Nielsen to call for a timeout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both teams transitioned from a high-speed exchange to a more physical showdown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jabbar began to attack with the ball in the low post, scoring over Gilmore repeatedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jabbar also drew a defensive foul from Gan Guoyang, heading to the free-throw line and making both shots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At 41, Jabbar was still a powerful force on offense, able to step up and help the team when points were needed, stabilizing the team with his reliable hook shot, honed over two decades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the free throw, Jack Ramsay subbed out Gilmore and brought back Mychal Thompson.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thompson was having a good night, though occasionally his thoughts drifted off, worried about his wife and children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The intense contest between both sides persisted throughout the second quarter, with the Trail Blazers steadily keeping the Lakers at bay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By halftime, the Trail Blazers were leading the Lakers 59:54 by 5 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In their usual style of play, the Trail Blazers weren’t much afraid of the Lakers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to other strong teams of the time, the Trail Blazers had two advantages that were ahead of the League and their time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One was their three-point shooting, both in the amount they took and their high shooting percentage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other was their turnovers, they had the fewest in the League, and it was much lower than average.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More three-pointers meant higher scoring efficiency in offense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fewer turnovers meant giving the opponents fewer easy counterattack opportunities in defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These two aspects always allowed the Trail Blazers to outperform their opponents in efficiency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This invisible advantage was due to Bobby Berman’s meticulous mathematical design and the influence of Guoyang’s abhorrence for mistakes on the whole team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So even if the Trail Blazers’ defensive level had slipped and their players’ mental cohesion wasn’t as strong as before, they were still a step above other teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as if they wore invisible heels, secretly standing a head taller than their opponents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the half-time break in the locker room, Thompson called the hospital and received news that his wife had given birth to a son, smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Thompson shared this news with everyone, the Trail Blazers’ locker room erupted with joy, and they rushed to embrace Thompson, congratulating him on becoming a father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thompson smiled happily and said, \"I hope my child brings us good luck. We have to win this game.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since entering the playoffs, Thompson’s performance had been improving, and together with Gilmore, they’d been providing Guoyang with increasing support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Veterans are veterans for a reason; they might slack off during the regular season but come playoffs, they stand out when it’s time to step up.\u003C\u002Fp>",1003,"2026-06-06T01:41:33.911Z",1,"novelbin.me","965cbe543e39347e5608dc9c436217bb252b4326891c78f4392285e0c6fa8e9b","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-557","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-555",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]