Chapter 659: Chapter 49 Impatient
When everyone thought that the fourth quarter would pit Gan Guoyang against Jordan as in their past clashes, the plot took an unexpected turn.
The Bulls maintained full-court pressing defense throughout the game, but it suddenly collapsed under the coherent offensive coordination of the Trail Blazers.
The fourth quarter began, and the Trail Blazers surged ahead with a 10:2 run, all ten points coming from Gan Guoyang’s assists.
Porter hit a three-pointer, Sanders scored under the basket, Jerome Kossie got a score through a cut to the basket, and then Petrović nailed a three-pointer from the arc off Guoyang’s assist—his third three-pointer of the night.
The Bulls’ triangle offense, however, stagnated. Cartwright had yet to score in the game, completely baffled by Guoyang’s defense.
The Trail Blazers double-teamed Jordan, starting their attack before half-court, and shots from Pippen, Grant, and BJ Armstrong just wouldn’t fall.
This was because like a giant spider, Ah Gan swept back and forth between the three-point line and the three-second zone, leaving Sabonis to completely cover the paint.
Bill Cartwright’s efficacy had been nullified, he felt no rhythm in offense and struggled against Sabonis.
Compared to the Trail Blazers’ ground attack honed over three seasons, the Bulls’ triangle offense was still not fluid enough, and they choked at the crucial moment.
When play resumed, Jordan tried to take over the game, but it was too late, Guoyang countered every move.
Moreover, the Trail Blazers showed absolute dominance in rebounding, with Guoyang, Saboni, and Kossie continuously grabbing offensive rebounds for second-chance points.
The Trail Blazers’ offensive efficiency was astonishingly high in the fourth quarter; they scored in ten consecutive plays, leaving the Bulls gasping for breath.
During one Bulls’ offensive play, Jordan received a pass from John Paxson near the sideline, but the ball slipped, landing on the head of Bobby Beelman, who was kneeling by the sideline.
Beelman and Adelman, continuing the habits of Jack Ramsay, enjoyed kneeling at the sideline to watch the game.
This time, unfortunately, Beelman instinctively caught the ball with his hand.
The Trail Blazers’ bench stood up, thinking the ball had gone out of bounds, but the referee called interference by Beelman and maintained possession for the Bulls.
Beelman felt wronged—after all, the ball was already going out; he was just helping the referee by catching it to prevent it from hitting the technical table.
However, as a courtside individual, reaching out actively to touch the ball was against the rules, and the referee had to issue Beelman a technical foul.
Seeing Beelman about to curse, Gan Guoyang hurried over, covered Beelman’s mouth, and pulled him aside, "You can’t be cursing, or you’ll be ejected."
Beelman looked furious but, seeing the leading score, suppressed the urge to curse.
On the Bulls’ sideline inbound, if the ball didn’t reach Jordan, the Trail Blazers stuck to man-to-man defense.
By exploiting the intensity and focus of man-to-man, they disrupted the Bulls’ offensive flow, pushing them into isolated, stagnant plays.
The Bulls’ consecutive inside attacks missed, with Guoyang and Sabonis proving a formidable defensive duo inside.
Porter led a fast break, drove to the basket with his left hand, feinted, and handed the ball off to Guoyang.
Guoyang then dished it back to Sabonis, who caught it and slammed it home with a one-handed dunk!
The Trail Blazers extended their lead to 10 points, the largest gap in the game.
Jordan immediately countered with whirlwind speed, breaking free from Ah Gan and Sabonis, and scored a layup.
The gap was closed to eight points.
The Bulls started full-court pressing defense, with BJ Armstrong taking lead defense against Porter.
Before Porter could cross half-court, Guoyang set a screen for him, then received the pass at the top of the arc and launched a deep three-pointer.
The ball went in!
Guoyang’s first field goal of the fourth quarter was almost like nailing the coffin shut on the Bulls.
Such irrational long-range shots existed in current NBA only by Ah Gan and Bird, making it extremely difficult for opponents to anticipate.
Jordan wanted to respond with a three-pointer but hesitated and didn’t shoot, instead driving to the basket, drawing a foul from Sabonis.
Jordan made both free throws, bringing his total to 41 points, but the Bulls were still nine points behind; they needed a powerful offensive and defensive play to turn the game around.
But the Trail Blazers’ offense, running like a well-oiled engine at peak temperature, was simply unstoppable.
Guoyang made a beautiful pass from the low post to the cutting Kossie; Pippen had no choice but to foul.
Subsequently, Sabonis delivered a cross-court pass to the corner where Porter was completely open.
He caught the ball and shot a three-pointer—it went in! It was the Trail Blazers’ sixth three-pointer of the half and the situation became uncontrollable.
Phil Jackson called another timeout, but it was no longer possible to stop the Trail Blazers’ smooth and fluid offense.
Jordan was indeed very strong, but stopping the Trail Blazers required the whole team’s effort.
The kind of team offense that the Trail Blazers were executing was exactly what Phil Jackson had been yearning for.
If Jordan could integrate his offense with the team as Ah Gan did, they would truly be a championship-level team.
At this point, they still seemed quite a distance away.
With two minutes left in the game, the score was 109:118, the Bulls were still trailing by nine points to the Trail Blazers.
Since it was a regular season game, when it reached this point it truly was unbeatable, and Jackson no longer struggled.
The Trail Blazers steadily maintained their advantage, finishing the game 122:115, securing a 7-point victory over the Bulls.
From the score, it was evident that both sides had decent offensive plays in this head-to-head battle, but ultimately, the Bulls couldn’t hold on.
Jordan scored 45 points throughout the game, but was canceled out by Gan Guoyang’s 42 points, leaving everything else up to the role players.
Beelman and Jackson rarely called timeouts throughout the game, handing the initiative over to the players.
Pippen and Grant were somewhat immature, especially in many cases where they had to confront Ah Gan directly in the paint.
They performed adequately in the first half, but by the third and fourth quarters, once Ah Gan powered up both offensively and defensively, they were under tremendous pressure.
This was a significant challenge for the duo, and in some key plays, they were consistently dominated by Ah Gan.
These court brothers must rapidly grow and form a barrier that can effectively counter Ah Gan.
Additionally, old Cartwright ended the game with zero points and three rebounds, performing terribly and was completely played by Ah Gan.
The Trail Blazers’ guards had a splendid performance tonight, despite missing Hornacek.
Terry Porter scored 10 points and delivered 11 assists, Sanders had 7 points and 7 rebounds, Curry managed 6 points and 3 assists.
Despite being scored 40 points against by Jordan, Petrović was efficient with 4 attempts and 3 makes from beyond the arc, scoring a total of 15 points.
Petrović’s three-pointers played a crucial role at the critical moments, showing that his performance was not poor.
After the game ended, Petrović, as promised, accompanied Bill Schonely to a street bar for a drink.
Surprisingly, more people at the bar knew Petrović than he had expected.
Ultimately, neither of them had to pay for the drinks as the bar owner took care of the bill.
Afterward, Gan Guoyang told Petrović, "Bill knew you performed well tonight, the owner was definitely going to treat, that’s why he took you there!"
With this victory, Gan Guoyang’s record against Jordan became even more substantial, at 11 encounters, 9 wins and 2 losses, the advantage was clear.
Nevertheless, even after losing the game, Jordan did not appear downhearted, the two of them met in the player’s tunnel, embracing each other.
Jordan said, "Sonny, the distance between us is getting closer, tonight’s win for you guys wasn’t easy. We just didn’t control the pace well and our play wasn’t targeted enough, next time we won’t make it so easy for you."
In the face of a defeated Jordan, Gann Guoyang, uncharacteristically, didn’t mock or ridicule him but instead agreed with Jordan’s statement.
He nodded and said, "I’m looking forward to our true encounter, to a fight where it’s a matter of life or death."
Tonight’s regular season game let Gann Guoyang clearly feel the potential contained within the Chicago Bulls.
Their triangle offense was well-organized, and Pippen and Grant were versatile and difficult to handle, also rapidly growing.
Most importantly, Jordan had found his own game rhythm and style; he was no longer exploring alone but had rallied a group willing to brave life and death with him on the basketball court.
Basketball is ultimately a team sport, personal performance and the team are inseparable.
Now when Jordan stood before Ah Gan, he was no longer alone and unsupported, but had a team backing him.
Thinking of this, excitement surged anew within Ah Gan’s heart, making him somewhat impatient.
He even thought, maybe next time they play Detroit, he might as well elbow Thomas to death to clear the playoff obstacles for the Bulls.
