[{"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-729":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},1444296,1896,"Chapter 729 - 82 Hungry Tiger_5","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-729",729,"\u003Cp>Pistons still had Rodman guarding Gan Guoyang, which was already Chuck Daly’s best solution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using Rodman to defend, at least they could entangle Gan Guoyang, preventing him from receiving the ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Letting Melvin Turpin or Lan Bi’er defend would only lead to an even more disastrous outcome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This defensive strategy to prevent ball reception started to show some effect at the beginning of the third quarter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rodman kept cutting in front, continuously using small movements to harass Gan Guoyang while receiving the ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first half, the referees’ whistles were slightly in favor of the Trail Blazers; in the second half, they balanced out a bit, relaxing the standard of physical contact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both teams’ confrontation became extremely intense, and scoring became very difficult with clashes and shoving occurring frequently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no matter how intense it was, the players’ moves were clean, pure basketball confrontations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both the Pistons and Trail Blazers’ perimeter shooting were unsuccessful, and the battle for rebounds turned into chaos, throwing the game into disarray.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Pistons seized the opportunity, using free throws and counterattacks to launch an assault, narrowing the gap to only 9 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight, Hornacek and Porter’s outside shooting was not accurate; they focused all their energy on defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang’s mid-range jumper near the free-throw line missed, but he rushed into the basket to grab the offensive rebound and passed the ball to the perimeter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hornacek’s drive was blocked, then the ball was passed out again to Kossie on the perimeter, who, after a fake move, drove left to the basket but missed the layup due to interference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabonis grabbed the offensive rebound and went for the layup, but the ball was swatted out of bounds by Melvin Turpin, though the possession remained with the Trail Blazers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scoring was extremely difficult; the Pistons’ defense was very stubborn, and the Trail Blazers’ offense was equally resilient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beelman could feel it, with the outside shooting not being accurate, the Pistons’ defense was tightening even more, which was not good for the Trail Blazers’ offense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, in the middle of the third quarter, Beelman made a bold substitution, bringing Dell Curry in to replace Hornacek.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was Curry’s first appearance in the finals, and in the talent-packed Trail Blazers, he didn’t have many chances to shine during the playoffs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His last outstanding performance was in the 1988 playoffs against the Mavericks, where he made 4 out of 5 threes and delivered a key assist to help the Trail Blazers defeat the Mavericks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Trail Blazers have put Dell Curry on the court, it looks like Beelman is not very satisfied with the team’s perimeter shooting.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Curry came on, he immediately cooperated tactically with Ah Gan and Sabonis, getting a chance by using the cover of the two big men at the right corner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabonis passed the ball precisely to Curry, who released a three-pointer and scored!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dell Curry’s biggest characteristic in shooting was his balance, from the top of the arc to 45 degrees to the corner, Dell Curry’s long shots had no blind spots; all spots were his sweet spots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was where Dell Curry, as a reserve shooter, was most versatile, especially since his shooting percentages were outstanding from both the left and right corners, which is quite rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many shooters have significantly different percentages in various areas, which leads to special attention in strategy design and more targeted defense from the opponents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dell Curry didn’t have this issue; he was a born excellent shooter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Curry’s three-pointer widened the gap again, causing the Pistons great discomfort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Melvin Tipping made a mid-range shot right after to keep the score close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers passed to Jerome Kossie, who made a strong low post move against Tipping but got blocked on the turnaround.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sabonis grabbed the offensive rebound, with a flick of his big hand, passed it out to the perimeter, where Ah Gan received the ball at the top.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang feinted a shot, dribbled in for a breakthrough, then passed to Curry at the 45-degree flank, Curry took the shot from the three-point line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hit again!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two consecutive three-pointers, with a microwave-like touch, Curry stabilized the Trail Blazers’ situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, the Pistons’ collapsing defense was bankrupt, and they had to strictly guard Curry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Curry had the ball beyond the three-point line, the Pistons had to have someone close to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This opened up space for Gan Guoyang to receive the ball, and Rodman, entangled with Gan Guoyang for half the game, was beginning to tire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not physical fatigue, but a lapse in concentration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every defender has a limit to how long they can concentrate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one can stay 100% focused on one person for the entire game; moments of inattention and distraction are inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang began to drive with the ball, and once he got it in the low post, a few dribbles inside and a turn resulted in a hook shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rodman was helpless, as Gan Guoyang scored 7 points in a row on him — including a 2+1, where even after the foul, he still watched Gan Guoyang’s toss go in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rodman’s psychological defense completely collapsed, having been breached in one sweep, the hard-earned 9-point gap was stretched back to 18 points!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After being called for a foul by Hugh Evans, Rodman kicked the ball into the audience and then received a technical foul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang yelled at Rodman: \"Your kicking isn’t so great, not quite like our Chinese soccer!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hitting the free throw, Gan Guoyang in the third quarter once again became unstoppable, scoring continuously with counters and free throws in the last two minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the end of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers led 77:60, with a huge advantage of 17 points going into the fourth quarter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang had 40 points, 21 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 4 assists in three quarters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether he could further improve his stats depended purely on whether the Pistons still wanted to resist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Pistons didn’t lose their fighting spirit, they didn’t want to give away this home court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although a 17-point deficit seemed bleak, everything was possible on the NBA court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the interval break, Chuck Daly continued to encourage his players to persevere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is our last home game of the season, we can’t lose it like this! Absolutely not!\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1057,"2026-06-06T01:41:37.192Z",1,"novelbin.me","9edca21920b5b15781150d694e6f528efe8a952c1ef1761b465fda30b4313aa1","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-730","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-728",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]