Chapter 670: Chapter 54 I Don’t Quite Understand
Gan Guoyang’s staunch defense against Magic Johnson had caused the Lakers’ offense to struggle in the latter half of the third quarter and into the fourth, finding themselves in an offensive dilemma.
Don Nelson made an adjustment in the fourth quarter, he began to use the do-or-die lineup of the playoffs—two bigs and three guards.
Both Edwards and Duckworth were on the court at the same time on the inside, while James Worthy was switched out in favor of a three-guard combination of Cooper, Scott, and Johnson on the outside.
Although it was a three-guard lineup, Johnson was actually more of a point forward; his 6-foot-9 stature was perfect for that role.
Johnson moved from the middle to the wing, where he used spot-up shooting and ball-handling to facilitate the team’s play, leaving the middle for Scott and the two big men to crash the three-second zone.
In the 1988 playoffs, the Lakers’ three-guard lineup had given the Trail Blazers a considerable amount of trouble.
With Jabbar in the Lakers, if Gan Guoyang went to defend Johnson alone, he would be punished.
But at that time, Don Nelson didn’t have sufficient control over the Lakers, and he couldn’t afford to bench James Worthy at crucial moments, which led to their series loss against the Trail Blazers in 1988.
By 1989, Don Nelson had tightened his grip on the team, and the dynamic between the Trail Blazers and Lakers began to shift back and forth.
The Trail Blazers had lost Drexler, and their bench was a mess; the defensive pressure on Johnson was significantly reduced.
When the Lakers deployed their three-guard lineup during the playoffs, the Trail Blazers could not withstand it; Gan Guoyang was forced to constantly make tough defensive decisions at the back.
Guard the three-second zone or the perimeter? Control Johnson’s passing or his shooting? Should he watch Jabbar closely? Because even at 41, Jabbar still had the ability to score 20 points with a 50% shooting percentage in the playoffs.
Amidst a series of confusing and difficult decisions, the Trail Blazers lost the series, with Johnson happily holding onto Jabbar like a child after game six.
Yet, this season, the situation reversed once again, and the dynamics of offense and defense changed anew.
Jabbar had retired, and the Lakers wouldn’t be able to find another center like him anytime soon.
The Lakers made a mistake at the draft by passing up a trade with the Trail Blazers.
In an effort to foil the Trail Blazers, the Lakers refused to trade Edwards for Divac.
It was an error: it could have been a win-win trade, but the Lakers were not willing to meet the Trail Blazers’ needs.
As a result, not only did the Trail Blazers secure Divac, but they also acquired the defensively outstanding giant Sabonis and the best guard from Europe, Petrovic.
With Sabonis and Divac’s arrival, the Trail Blazers’ three-second zone resources became exceedingly abundant. Gan Guoyang no longer had to make tough choices on defense anymore.
He could focus on locking down Johnson without worrying about the inside being breached.
He could also actively step out to provide help without fearing a lack of backup underneath the basket.
When Don Nelson deployed the three-guard lineup and created a counterattack climax, Beelman called for a timeout.
The Lakers had closed the gap to just 6 points.
Beelman substituted Jerome Kossie with Mike-Sanders and also went with two bigs and three guards.
Beelman instructed Sanders to primarily defend Johnson, with Sabonis crouching under the basket, Ah Gan sweeping the mid-range, and allowed the Lakers’ three guards to take outside shots, resolutely denying any opportunity for inside attacks or easy mid-range shots.
At critical moments in the fourth quarter, under the basket remained the most important and the most necessary part to protect.
On offense, Gan Guoyang consecutively powered his way in the low post against Duckworth and Edwards, firmly maintaining the lead.
With the Trail Blazers leading, they forced the Lakers to compete on offensive efficiency.
The Trail Blazers had a reliable scoring point, then defensively let you shoot. I don’t believe your perimeter shooting efficiency could surpass Ah Gan’s one-on-one scoring.
Scott and Cooper both hit a series of three-pointers, briefly narrowing the deficit to 5 points.
But Gan Guoyang immediately drew a foul from Duckworth down low, went to the foul line, and made both shots.
Then Magic Johnson missed a three-pointer from outside; Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound.
In the fast-break counterattack, Hornacek held on against Cooper’s defense to score a layup and even drew a foul from Cooper.
These two plays were very damaging to the Lakers; when Hornacek made the extra free-throw, the gap suddenly widened to 10 points.
For the team that was behind and trying to catch up in the final phase, the margin for error was extremely, extremely small.
Although three-pointers can catch up quickly, they are unstable.
If you miss just once and let the opponent seize the chance to counterattack, the situation can suddenly worsen.
Striving to close the gap can feel like a deflating sense of wasted efforts.
Time slowly passed, and the Trail Blazers grew more confident on defense.
They simply contracted their defense, adamantly protecting the basket and mid-range, allowing you to shoot from a distance.
Even if the referee called for an illegal defense, thinking that the Trail Blazers were playing zone, they still stuck to their contracted defense strategy.
This was in line with the Trail Blazers’ longstanding defensive strategy of being loose on the outside and tight inside; and with Sabonis present, and Ah Gan moving to the power-forward position, the defensive shell became even tougher.
The best way to combat a shell defense is either to bombard from the outside or to have a powerful post player down low.
The Lakers no longer had that powerful post player, and going for outside shots at the last moment was like gambling.
Byron Scott’s corner three missed, Sabonis grabbed the defensive rebound, just two minutes left in the game.
In theory, it shouldn’t have been a big issue, but Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Hornacek, whose hasty outside shot missed.
