Chapter 881 - 51 Too Long_2

After the final pep talk, the Trail Blazers collectively calmed their slightly restless hearts.

Gan Guoyang was right—the Trail Blazers were battle-tested. After an entire season of honing the Princeton Offense, the players had developed exceptional chemistry.

Their offensive efficiency was higher than last season, their defensive intensity stronger than before. They were the best team in the league, bar none.

Of course, confidence stemmed not only from words but also from action.

As the first quarter began, Gan Guoyang hit consecutive mid-range jumpers from the top of the arc.

Exploiting Charles Barkley’s lack of height, Gan Guoyang wasted no time, catching the ball and pulling up for shot after shot.

Sinking four straight jumpers right over Barkley’s head, Gan had him flustered—Barkley pressed closer and closer. On the fifth possession, Gan opted to drive, breaking through, and faced Sam Bowie at the rim. With a polished hook shot, he scored another two points!

Just minutes into the first quarter, Gan Guoyang made all five of his attempts and racked up 10 points, forcing the Suns into an early timeout called by Fitzsimmons.

Gan Guoyang was crystal clear in his game plan for tonight: stay out of their trap, attack the basket with mid-range jumpers and hook shots, capitalize on his strong shooting rhythm, and crush the opposition before they knew what hit them.

Fitzsimmons understood that if Gan Guoyang found his rhythm, this game would be as good as lost.

The reason the Suns won the previous game was largely due to their ability to limit Gan Guoyang’s shooting percentage to below 50% on defense.

This proved that the Suns’ defensive strategy was highly effective—the triple-team of Sam Bowie, Mark West, and Barkley had been useful.

If Gan’s offensive efficiency surged tonight and the triple-team faltered, with other scoring options opening up, the Suns would face a catastrophic defeat.

Fitzsimmons could already smell the bloodbath, so during the timeout, he decisively adjusted the matchups on defense, assigning Barkley to guard Sabonis while handing Gan over to Bowie.

"Sam, you handle Gan. Don’t let him keep scoring like this—it’s too dangerous."

Sam Bowie nodded. Since his rookie season, he had been tasked with stopping Gan Guoyang, but even until today, he knew he couldn’t contain him.

All Bowie could do was try his best—lower Gan’s shooting percentage as much as possible, avoid mistakes, and not give him any offensive rebounds.

Barkley wasn’t entirely happy about it and protested, "Coach, I can handle him. Last game..."

"Last game was last game; this game is this game. Your priorities are more on offense. Besides, Sabonis isn’t easy to deal with—you need to front him and deny him any chance to receive the ball."

For the Suns, addressing the Trail Blazers’ interior matchups was always a major headache.

Barkley’s height was a favorite topic among fans—how a 6’6" player could dominate the paint and grab so many rebounds.

For coaches, however, it often presented a dilemma, as the defensive gaps caused by his height were hard to plug.

Fitzsimmons didn’t want to sub Mark West in too early, not before their defense was utterly overwhelmed.

Moving Barkley to the small forward spot wasn’t a good idea either—it would severely hamper the Suns’ offensive efficiency.

Ultimately, the Suns had to pick their poison. Game 3 had proven that one of the options, with some struggle, might still hold hope.

The Trail Blazers didn’t need to make any adjustments; all they had to do was stick to their original rotation and execute as planned.

After the timeout, with Bowie now guarding Gan Guoyang, Gan decisively shifted away from mid-range shots and began pounding the low post.

This evening, the Trail Blazers’ offensive scheme revolved around the central axis of Gan Guoyang and Sabonis.

When Gan Guoyang was positioned at the high post, Sabonis stayed in the low post. When Gan moved to the low post, Sabonis rotated to the top of the arc to facilitate ball movement and set screens.

They reduced the backdoor cuts typically seen in the Princeton Offense, instead utilizing the more versatile low-post sets of the system.

The advantage of the low-post sets lies in their capacity to initiate Princeton offensive routines—using the dual high-low axis to create scoring opportunities for other players.

Meanwhile, in tense moments, the low-post sets could easily transition into an isolation system, allowing the power forward to feed the center and launch direct attacks in the three-second zone.

In playoff basketball, with heightened defensive intensity, it was often difficult to execute the Princeton Offense’s backdoors or find wide-open looks. At such times, the team had to rely on the players’ ability to attack directly.

With Gan Guoyang maintaining his hot hand throughout the first quarter, he continued hitting hook shots over Sam Bowie, racking up 17 points in the period and propelling the Trail Blazers to a 37-25 lead over the Suns—a 12-point gap.

The Trail Blazers showcased their dominance, while the Suns displayed their resilience.

Despite falling into an early hole, the Suns refused to surrender and began clawing their way back.

Barkley didn’t give up on double-teaming Gan Guoyang. Together with Bowie and West, he continued hounding the superstar.

Gan Guoyang adjusted his strategy tonight, collaborating with Sabonis in frequent high-low post rotations.

Sabonis overpowered Barkley in the paint to score consecutively, while Barkley retaliated with mid-range shots and three-pointers on offense.

In these last two games, Barkley’s three-point shooting percentage was unusually high, which helped the Suns weather the storm.

During the second quarter, the Suns capitalized on Gan Guoyang being benched, and the Trail Blazers’ brief lapses in defense, using fast breaks to narrow the point gap to only five.

Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle orchestrated this comeback. Johnson, however, continued to underperform in this series.

For some unknown reason, whenever Kevin Johnson faced the Trail Blazers and Ah Gan, his skills seemed to drop by 30%, and he just couldn’t bring his A-game.