Chapter 959 - 14 Absolutely Right_3

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Many times, communication after marriage isn’t romantic or warm; rather, it’s often speechless, but Gan Guoyang was used to it long ago.

Fortunately, tomorrow he will start a road trip, leaving Portland for a week.

For Gan Guoyang, this is also an opportunity to relax himself.

The season is nearing its end, and the situation in the Eastern and Western Conferences is becoming clear.

The Bulls are leading far ahead, significantly ahead in performance, and barring any surprises, they will secure the league’s top spot this year, gaining home-court advantage in all series.

Though the Trail Blazers have faced ups and downs, thanks to the rise of Gan Guoyang and young players, they continue to lead the Western Conference.

With Magic Johnson retiring, the Trail Blazers have no opponents in the Western Conference; the weak teams remain weak, reducing the difficulty of the regular season.

The defending champions still have hope of securing 60 wins, laying the foundation for the third championship of a three-peat.

After the Lakers withdrew from championship contention, three strong teams emerged below the Trail Blazers: the Jazz, Suns, and Warriors.

The Spurs, who maintained competitiveness in the past two seasons, fell behind this season, while the Supersonics slowly caught up and started to become regulars in the playoffs.

Once, in the 80s, evenly matched with Gan Guoyang, Olajuwon and his Houston Rockets have now reached the edge of the playoffs.

This time the road trip, the first stop for the Trail Blazers is Houston, where the Rockets are striving for the top eight in the Western Conference.

Upon arriving in Houston, the Texas media started hyping the showdown between Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon again— a battle that began back in the 1984 NCAA finals.

But after 8 years, the gap in achievements between them has grown larger.

Actually, in terms of strength, Gan Guoyang highly respects Olajuwon.

For Gan Guoyang, in terms of importance, Olajuwon is only second to Michael Jordan.

If we only talk about the inside game, after Jabbar’s retirement, Olajuwon is the only player Gan Guoyang takes seriously.

Years of contests, coupled with Drexler’s relationship, make them both rivals and friends.

Moreover, Gan Guoyang never figured out, even till his death, whether the punch from back then was really thrown by Olajuwon.

Anyway, Olajuwon never admitted it till his death.

Once hot-tempered and fierce-looking, Olajuwon, under years of setbacks and the influence of his religious beliefs, became much more gentle, kind-faced.

Previously, before competing with Gan Guoyang, he would always glare fiercely, as if he wanted to devour the opponent.

Now, his gaze is calm and firm, regardless of what trash talk Gan Guoyang says, Olajuwon just smiles and doesn’t respond.

Psycho-tactics don’t work on Olajuwon anymore, and Gan Guoyang no longer plays such games with his old friend; they enjoy the showdown in technique and strength.

The match this evening was a direct confrontation, played remarkably well, both performing at their best level.

Fighting hard to enter the playoffs, the Rockets played very tenaciously, consistently leading the Trail Blazers, with Olajuwon entangling Gan Guoyang.

However, at the key moment in the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang still helped the Trail Blazers overtake the score with a three-pointer and a pass.

Facing Gan Guoyang’s defense, Olajuwon’s fadeaway shot didn’t hit, losing the Rockets the chance to turn the game around.

They lost another game, moving further away from the playoffs.

Even worse, after this shot, Olajuwon hobbled off the court.

After the game, the Rockets officially announced that Olajuwon had strained his hamstring and might miss some upcoming games.

This is undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Rockets, who need results at the moment.

Returning to the hotel, Gan Guoyang called Olajuwon to inquire about his condition.

Olajuwon chatted a lot with his old friend, mostly about Islam, leaving Gan Guoyang bewildered.

But finally, Olajuwon suddenly said to Gan Guoyang: "Sonny, in the past, you said something to me, ’Don’t let loyalty hurt you,’ I think what you said was very right, absolutely right."

Gan Guoyang suddenly smelled a hint of seaside sunshine.