Chapter 733: Chapter 83 Golden Age_3
Sitting next to Jackson, Tang Jianguo swung a fist towards Gan Guoyang, saying, "Sonny! I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time! We are making the Trail Blazers great again!"
Gan Guoyang responded, "Not too long, just a year. If there’s an award ceremony tonight, remember to come and hold the trophy."
"Yes, no problem! I definitely will!"
Tang Jianguo tried to look calm, but his heart was already tumultuous.
For him, this year was a tough one, and it was through the Trail Blazers that he overcame numerous difficulties.
If they win the championship this season, he believes all hardships will be swept away, and he will step into the 90s together with the Trail Blazers.
For the Trail Blazers, there was only one final push left, as David Stern brought the O’Brien Trophy to the game site.
After the big win in game five, the entire Trail Blazers team was filled with confidence, yearning for this championship.
The Detroit Pistons, of course, did not want to hand over the championship so easily. Before the game, Isiah Thomas clenched his teeth and insisted he would push the series to a game seven.
By the court, Chuck Daly’s hair remained meticulously in place, his suit crisp, exuding a calm as steady as Mount Tai.
The Pistons still had a chance; they were a tenacious team. Daly said in the locker room that if the Trail Blazers popped the champagne too early, they would make the opponent pay.
The game started promptly at 7:30 PM, possibly the last game of the 1990 NBA season.
The relentless Pistons competed fiercely against the Trail Blazers, with an intense battle on both sides.
The Pistons learned from their lesson in game five, guarding Gan Guoyang tightly right from the first quarter.
Rodman took the main defense, with Joe Dumars assisting; the Pistons deployed their best two defensive players on Gan Guoyang.
Daly was determined to lock down Ah Gan at all costs, betting that the other Trail Blazers would crumble under immense pressure.
The Pistons’ strategy indeed worked; in the first and second quarters, Gan Guoyang constantly faced defense from at least two, at times four people.
Gan Guoyang received the ball in the post, Dumars and Thomas totally abandoned the perimeter ball-handler, firmly double-teaming him even if it meant leaving a great open shot for the perimeter.
Unfortunately for the Trail Blazers, their outside shooting was off tonight; Porter, Hornacek, and Kossie’s mid-to-long range shooting were all subpar.
The Portland fans were extremely anxious; by halftime, the score was 55:49, the Trail Blazers were down by 6 points to the Pistons.
The Trail Blazers revealed a major problem in their offense: they lacked an outside sharpshooter; Ah Gan as the inside player was carrying too much of the burden.
Into the third quarter, Bobby Berman made a bold decision. Following the previous game where Curry made a significant impact, this game he decided to put in Petrović.
In such a critical battle, ordinary players would definitely be affected psychologically and perform abnormally.
But a true player with a big heart could deliver a spectacular performance in such a game.
With the Pistons leaving him open, Petrović scored a three-point shot and two mid-range shots, helping the Trail Blazers take the lead!
The momentum began to gradually shift in the third quarter.
Petrović’s breakthrough in offense started to disintegrate the Pistons’ defensive strategy.
More importantly, the Trail Blazers’ defense got stronger in the third quarter, making it increasingly difficult for the Pistons to score.
As the game went on, the Trail Blazers gradually gained the lead, slowly widening the gap.
Against another opponent, the Pistons would have then become physically more aggressive.
But they were facing the Trail Blazers, facing Ah Gan, here in the Portland Memorial Coliseum, a place destined to be their graveyard.
Petrović scored only 10 points in the third quarter, but those 10 points began to break open the dam.
However, the Detroiters, always resilient, did not collapse. In the fourth quarter, even after the gap widened to 11 points, they steadied themselves, gradually closing the gap to 3 points.
At the most critical moment, Gan Guoyang received the ball at a 45-degree angle, faced a triple-team, spun inside, squeezed past the defense, and performed a hook-move to score two points!
Isiah Thomas dribbled between his legs past Porter, and hit a jump shot after a quick stop.
Gan Guoyang received the ball on the low left post, still facing a triple-team, passed the ball to the outside, then cut inside.
Porter’s long shot missed, but Gan Guoyang grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on the putback!
A crucial putback!
At the most critical moment of the game, what saves your life are often those most primitive, most practiced things.
Thomas’s shot missed, and on the counter, Petrović, in a moment of inspiration, took a three-point shot.
It missed, but Gan Guoyang once again secured the offensive rebound, snatching this critical ball from the hands of Turpin, Rodman, and Lan Bi’er.
After grabbing the rebound, he didn’t rush; with little time left in the game, Gan Guoyang dribbled out to the perimeter to run down the clock.
The entire audience rose to their feet, applauding and cheering overwhelmingly.
The Pistons placed Rodman to guard Gan Guoyang one-on-one.
As the 24-second shot clock was about to expire, Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Petrović, then charged into the paint.
Petrović received the ball in the middle, drove in, and threw a pass-loop shot that Gan Guoyang leapt high to catch and slammed the ball into the basket just before the buzzer!
The entire Memorial Coliseum exploded, and courtside, Michael Jackson, who stayed until the end, was so thrilled he almost performed a moonwalk.
The score was 89:96 with the last 11 seconds of the game remaining, the Pistons had no more chance.
Thomas, unwilling to give up, rushed past half-court and took a final three-point shot, scoring, but it had no effect on the outcome.
The game ended, 92:96, the Trail Blazers defeated the Detroit Pistons in game six, winning the 1990 NBA season championship with a final series score of 4:2.
"Game over! Game over! The Portland Trail Blazers win the World Championship in 1990!"
Bill Schonely’s voice, accompanied by the buzzer ending the match, spread throughout the entire Portland, the entire Oregon.
The audience rushed onto the court, red and white confetti fell from the sky, bringing a satisfying close to the 1989-1990 season.
The season’s end marked the complete passage of the NBA’s 1980s into history, and the history of the 1990s had just begun.
The golden era that belonged to Ah Gan was finally arriving.
(End of Volume 7 "Smooth Criminal.")
