Chapter 806 - 25 Hero in Twilight_3

The Trail Blazers’ defense was actually fine, with no noticeable flaws.

However, the Celtics’ shooting warmed up in the second half, with Hornacek and others hitting consecutive shots from the outside.

On the Trail Blazers’ end, Petrović and Reggie Lewis once again took charge of the team’s offense.

Both teams entered a messy battle, with players from both sides running and shooting wildly, and the pace of offensive and defensive transition was lightning-fast.

In such a chaos, an old fox like Bird excels at seizing opportunities.

In the final moments of the third quarter, Bird received Hornacek’s pass, launched a three-pointer with a rider’s posture from the outside, and hit

the buzzer-beater!

That shot fixed the score at 91:92, with the Trail Blazers only one point ahead of the Celtics.

It was clearly an offensive battle tonight, with both sides scoring over 90 points by the end of the third quarter.

Nowadays, some games don’t even reach 90 points for the entire game, making this one truly a high-scoring battle.

As the fourth quarter began, Bird was again resting off the court, with Chris Ford planning to save all of the veteran’s energy for the last moment.

Gan Guoyang was also sitting on the sidelines, with the offensive burden of the Trail Blazers resting on Petrović and Reggie Lewis.

Since Reggie Lewis’s arrival, combined with Petrović’s increasing importance, their partnership has become more common.

Terry Porter transitioned from an "aggressive point guard" and slowly returned to the role of a traditional point guard.

In the past, paired with Drexler, Porter often played the role of a sharp Shooting Guard, refining his precise outside stop-and-pop jump shot.

Now, paired with sharpshooters like Lewis and Petrović, Porter began to slow down more often to organize the play.

During the offense, Porter directed from the middle, Petrović used screens to shake off defenders, cut inside, receiving Porter’s pass for a drive to the basket.

The Celtics tightened their defense; Petrović passed back to Porter, who, without any hesitation, passed directly to Lewis at the base line.

Lewis took the ball and shot a jumper, easily scoring.

The play was executed smoothly and fiercely like flowing clouds and flowing water.

Porter was the central member of the Trail Blazers’ perimeter, the team’s third brain.

The game swayed back and forth tonight, with the Trail Blazers gaining the advantage, the Celtics struggling to catch up, then the Trail Blazers steadily taking the upper hand, followed by the Celtics overtaking them.

After several exchanges, the critical moment of the deciding battle arrived.

96:99, the Trail Blazers led by 3 points.

Bird got up painfully from the sidelines, took off his tracksuit, and re-entered the game.

Many people didn’t know just how serious Bird’s back injury was.

The pain was almost constant, no matter whether he was standing, sitting, lying down, or leaning forward, he would feel pain.

Only lying down at the locker room or on the sidelines would Bird feel slightly better.

Sometimes, without enough warm-up, he couldn’t even bend over to pick up the ball.

The problem was with his spine; his L4 vertebra was pressing twistedly on his L5, with a nerve sandwiched in between.

The therapist had to treat him every day, temporarily moving the bone away from the nerve to ease the discomfort.

But over time, as soon as he stood up, trained, or played, gravity made the situation worsen again.

However, Bird was a player with tremendous willpower. Although simple movements like bending over became difficult, as soon as he ran onto the court, Bird could forget the pain and deliver an exceptional performance that opponents couldn’t ignore.

Tonight, Bird was in hot form. As soon as he returned to the court, Bird accepted Divac’s pass on the outside and faced off against Lewis for a three-pointer that went straight in!

Tie game! 99:99, the scores were even once again.

The Celtics’ first place in the League wasn’t picked up for free, being overweight can still crush the bed.

Gan Guoyang also returned to the game, Petrović accelerated on the outside, stopped but missed the jump shot.

Gan Guoyang fought hard for the offensive rebound, turned around and passed to Sabonis; Sabonis dribbled for a beat then passed it back to Petrović.

Petrović didn’t waste the opportunity this time, hitting the mid-range shot!

The two inside players attracted the most defensive attention, giving ample opportunity to the outside.

However, Bird received the pass at the top of the arc, took another three-pointer without any hesitation.

It’s in again!

The entire Memorial Coliseum fell somewhat silent.

The Celtics were leading!

102:101, the Celtics led for the first time in this game.

Bird is no longer the player with the highest three-point production in the League; he’s never been one for taking many three-pointers.

But no one can ignore his accuracy, especially in clutch moments.

Gan Guoyang knew it was time for him to step up. This was a moment for the core players to battle with their true strength, not for fancy passing.

Gan Guoyang called for the ball in the low post, with the Celtics watching him like a hawk, ready to double-team him once he got the ball.

Petrović passed the ball to Sabonis, who then delivered a high pass to Gan Guoyang.

The Celtics’ defense converged on Gan Guoyang like hungry wolves.

The perimeter opened up for an opportunity, Gan Guoyang could have passed the ball to his teammates.

But he didn’t, knowing full well that this was the Celtics’ strategy.

Rather let the role players take the open shot than let Ah Gan score directly.

There might be a better opportunity on the outside, but taking the shot now would be highly pressured.

Even an open shot carried its risks, so Gan Guoyang decided to keep the ball in his hands.

He turned around and used his explosion and strength to push past the defense, shooting a difficult left-handed hook over Parrish!

The ball flew straight; Gan Guoyang’s posture was somewhat awkward and forced under the multiple defenders.

But the ball steadily flew into the net, scoring! 102:103, the Trail Blazers took the lead again.

The audience sighed with relief, but when Bird got the ball, everyone’s heart was in their throat again.

At this point, Gan Guoyang wouldn’t let Lewis or Kossie defend Bird anymore; he would do it himself!

The two faced off again, as if time traveled back to 1986, Bird’s prime years.

Even then, at his peak, it was still tough for Bird to win a one-on-one duel against the younger Ah Gan—their styles restrained each other.

Now with a severe back injury, Bird, whose glory days were behind him, stood fearless against a prime Ah Gan.

Bird received the ball, squared up to Ah Gan, slowly dribbled in, accelerated, and turned, attempting to shake off Gan Guoyang using a timing mismatch.

Gan Guoyang was tight on him, and Bird chose to end the offense with a highly difficult, rooster-stand fadeaway from near the free-throw line!

The ball traced a high arc, then fell early into the Three Second Zone—the shot had been grazed by Gan Guoyang’s fingers.

Sabonis grabbed the ball and with a flick of his big hand, passed it out; Gan Guoyang was already charging forward like a ferocious tiger towards the frontcourt.

Bird, with his aching back, pursued relentlessly, but he simply couldn’t catch up; Gan Guoyang received the ball and easily dunked it home!

Bird ran to the baseline, quickly inbounded the ball, not letting himself sink into the despair of failing to score alone or being fast-breaked against, but focused on the next play.

This time, Bird used his movement to run to the left corner, received a pass from Divac, and took a mid-range jump shot.

The classic mortar shot was released, not very fast, with a high arc.

But Gan Guoyang stuck to him like glue, forcing Bird to retract the ball, give up on the shot, and push through along the baseline.

The young Bird might have pulled off a baseline move with a reverse layup, but the 34-year-old Bird still trying to pull this off was followed closely by Gan Guoyang, who lightly tapped the ball down from behind.

Possession returned to the Trail Blazers, who counterattacked quickly; Petrović drove with the ball and passed it to Gan Guoyang, who vehemently leaped, dunking the ball over McHale once again!

McHale dared not block and sidestepped; to block was to foul, to block was to be hit by a truck, to block was to be sent flying out of bounds.

102:107. Two defensive stands, two counter-attacks, and with Gan Guoyang stepping up, the suspense of the game was gradually dispelled.

Bird didn’t lose his fighting spirit; he still tried to attack, to help his teammates score, to defend.

But he really couldn’t do it anymore. Injuries tormented his body, he was panting, and his body parts didn’t obey as well.

When McHale missed from mid-range, Reggie Lewis easily broke through in the counterattack, effectively ending the game early.

Chris Ford called a timeout, and Bird looked somewhat desolate as he left the court, having played brilliantly tonight, but not brilliantly enough.

Age had caught up with the once-great warrior; time had finally taken away all the glory and pride that belonged to him.

When the game ended, the score was fixed at 104:112, with the Trail Blazers and Celtics tussling for most of the game, pulling away with a victory in the final moments.

Gan Guoyang and Bird hugged on the court; this was likely their last face-off of the season—excluding the All-Star game.

The two didn’t say much, with Gan Guoyang only stating, "See you next season, Larry."

Bird replied, "Goodbye, Larry."

Gan Guoyang stared blankly at Bird, watching him leave through the tunnel.

Thinking to himself that Bird’s words were probably meant for himself.