[{"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-984":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},1444451,1896,"Chapter 984 - 24: The Long Wait_3","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-984",984,"\u003Cp>Malone hesitated for a moment, dribbled, and drove to the left to attack the basket, directly challenging Gan Guoyang’s rim protection!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected, he was blocked, with a big swat, Porter grabbed the ball, and the Trail Blazers launched a fast break.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reggie Lewis charged ahead, received the ball, and dunked with his left hand, the Trail Blazers took the lead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why are you avoiding Karl, are you afraid of me?\" Gan Guoyang asked Malone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Malone just assaulted the basket and obviously dodged during the confrontation with Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tried to sidestep after the collision and perform a floater, but Gan Guoyang’s long arm still managed to block it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not afraid of you, stop talking nonsense.\" Malone replied weakly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Malone, facing any other big man in the league, including a heavyweight giant like Sabonis, could fearlessly take them head-on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though he was only 6’9\", Malone could hold his ground or even have an advantage against all the seven-footers in the league.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only against Ah Gan, he couldn’t budge, couldn’t move at all, he was like a mountain under the basket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no idea why this man’s body was so solid, so heavy, and had ridiculously great strength, it simply defied science.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This person’s existence truly defied science, not scientific at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers’ defensive strategy was very clear: Sabonis marked Malone, big against small, interfering as much as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three-second zone was opened for him; if you can charge through, then you’re impressive, if not, you’ll have to figure out how to keep shooting mid-range.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabonis stood like a wall in front of you, testing Malone’s mid-range shooting accuracy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the second attack, at the same position, Malone received the ball, but this time he didn’t hesitate, catching and turning immediately for a mid-range shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sabonis couldn’t come fast enough to block, and the ball accurately hit the mark, as the Jazz team took two points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both sides scored in their signature ways at the start, followed by Gan Guoyang and Porter executing a pick-and-roll, Guoyang cut outside at a 45-degree angle on the left, received the ball, and hit a mid-range jumper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two teams played quite relaxed in the first quarter, with decent shooting accuracy, in a probing phase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some defensive flaws appeared for the Trail Blazers, as Stockton’s passes sliced through like a scalpel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once near the basket, Gan Guoyang firmly guarded the rim, making all penetrations inefficient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then there were no offensive rebounds for second attacks, extremely painful for a cut-heavy team like the Jazz.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jerry Sloan was troubled by this because Gan’s defense was always the most daunting, forming the strong foundation of the Trail Blazers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coupled with Sabonis, the Twin Towers’ impenetrable basket defense was deadly in the ’90s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To beat the Trail Blazers, Supersonics would rely on defense and a fast pace, using a super-strong SOS double-team defense system paired with rapid attacks to avoid positional play, denying the Trail Blazers’ advantage, hoping to defeat them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jazz team, on the other hand, took a different approach, focusing on offense, with better, more coordinated, more skilled positional play to break through the Trail Blazers’ solid interior defense face-to-face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The score remained tied from 2:2 up to 20:20, with both teams’ offensive efficiency performing well in a steady game, dominated by positional plays, while Trail Blazers had a few more fast breaks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The turning point came in the latter half of the first quarter, when Stockton attempted a central breakthrough in a fast break, Reggie Lewis suddenly doubled up and snatched the ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Trail Blazers counterattack, Gan Guoyang cut into the middle, received a pass from Porter, and dunked powerfully with both hands!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, Malone received the ball at a low post, and Gan Guoyang suddenly doubled up again, stealing the ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers launched another fast break, this time Reggie Lewis dashed all the way to the basket, but missed the layup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Gan Guoyang followed up again, grabbed the offensive rebound, and scored the tip-in, adding 4 points in a row.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers’ sudden trapping on the ball handler plus fast breaks in the latter half of the first quarter caught the Jazz off guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The originally balanced situation was disrupted, opening the gap, and Jerry Sloan called a timeout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jazz team’s disadvantages in speed and intensity were laid bare, with the initiative entirely in the Trail Blazers’ hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All they could do was endure, wait, and passively wait for the Trail Blazers to make mistakes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this wait was much longer, much longer than Sloan, Stockton, and Malone imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>",769,"2026-06-06T01:41:40.447Z",1,"novelbin.me","ed0e884ef3d5652b9131fad3cd5a9f105cadc95db3301d47f996929eb291b0e8","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-985","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-983",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]