Chapter 781: Chapter 17 Breaking a Sweat_3
Facing such an opponent, any slackness or mistakes from the Trail Blazers would be capitalized by the Suns, ultimately costing them the victory.
As the game entered the fourth quarter, An Ji and Eddie Johnson successively scored three-pointers—a weapon the Suns used against the Trail Blazers.
The score gap was suddenly narrowed to just 1 point, from a 7-point advantage. In one round, not defending the three-point shot, not scoring on their own, and the opponent making another three-pointer, a 7-point lead turned into 1 point in just over a minute.
So far, the Trail Blazers and the Suns are the two teams in the League who have attempted the most three-point shots.
This game was marked by many back-and-forth moments; the Trail Blazers took the lead, but the Suns closely followed.
The Trail Blazers pulled away, the Suns closed in, the Trail Blazers pulled away again, the Suns closed in again.
When the fourth quarter reached the point where the Suns were only 1 point behind, all the pressure shifted to the Trail Blazers’ side.
The Suns knew that they would definitely let Ah Gan take the ball for a solo play, so Barkley intentionally or unintentionally leaned toward Gan Guoyang’s side.
When Sabonis passed the ball to Gan Guoyang at the corner, Barkley suddenly rushed over and stole the ball from Ah Gan’s hands!
This was Gan Guoyang’s first mistake in this game, and it was a very fatal one. Barkley, having stolen the ball, drove it back for a counterattack.
He charged like a wild boar that could dribble, lowering his head and making a swift dash, executing a beautiful spin to get past Reggie Lewis, who was attempting to disrupt him.
After entering the three-second zone, he leaped high and dunked with both hands!
But Ah Gan appeared like a ghost from behind, swinging his arm in the air, knocking the ball out of Barkley’s hands!
With no ball in hand, Barkley hung on the basket, missing the dunk.
The ball flew out of bounds, but it was still in possession of the Suns.
The stolen Gan Guoyang dashed back crazily and finally caught up.
After the successful block, he, chewing his gum, said to Barkley: "Nice steal Charles, but my block wasn’t bad either."
Barkley pushed Ah Gan and said, "You’re really petty, what’s wrong with letting me score one dunk!"
Although he didn’t score, Barkley, who claimed he would crush the Trail Blazers and Ah Gan before the game, really wasn’t bluffing.
His abilities have seen a significant upgrade from the 80s, reflected in every detail of his offensive and defensive game.
A true superstar is reflected not just in stats, but in the control and influence over the game.
Statistics are just the appearance; the essence of playing games is to win.
Focusing on statistics can win you numbers, but often loses you the game.
Basketball isn’t baseball, where you can rely solely on statistics to figure out how a game progresses in your mind.
Even if it’s been a hundred years, with a 19th-century baseball game’s data sheet, fans could still imagine how the game unfolded, who performed well and who decided the outcome.
But basketball doesn’t work that way. Statistics can reflect a part of the contribution, but often, a player with great stats might not have performed well if you watched the game.
And a player with unimpressive stats might be crucial for winning the game, making many invisible contributions.
Barkley’s statistical ability improved compared to the past, but not by much, and his rebounding even declined.
However, Barkley’s invisible contributions to the game have increased, even though he still dislikes playing defense and his talk is still foul.
From the baseline, Barkley received the pass; in a one-on-one with Ah Gan at the baseline, he forcefully broke through with his left hand, making another difficult step-back and fadeaway jumper.
Score!
After scoring, Barkley waved his arms and shouted, and the Suns took the lead.
The resilience of the Suns made the fans at Memorial Coliseum feel cold: Can we get past the Suns this year?
All the pressure now lay on the Trail Blazers players, but Ah Gan remained very calm; he came out to catch the ball high.
Together with Sabonis, they played a high pick-and-roll; this time Reggie Lewis used Sabonis’ screen to sneak to the baseline, and Gan Guoyang delivered a precise pass under the basket, Lewis received the ball and scored with a layup.
Gan Guoyang knew that at this time, his "hatred value" was very high, making it easy to attract defense, thus creating more opportunities for his teammates.
He had to mix feints and genuine moves, capable of both passing and shooting, making the Suns’ defense baffled.
Later, when Barkley wanted to play singles against Ah Gan again, Gan Guoyang didn’t give him another chance.
Right off the bat, he knocked the ball from Barkley’s hands and stole it.
Then he quickly moved to the basket, positioned himself low to check Barkley, played a mismatched single, received the ball and turned around, gently hooking the shot in.
After the failed offensive and defensive attempts, Barkley, holding the ball, smashed it hard on the ground, even though they had previously taken the lead, they were overturned in the next two rounds.
The Suns’ relatively weak rim defense became a vulnerability at critical moments.
Apart from Mark West and Kurt Rambis, the Suns no longer had reliable defense inside.
In Barkley’s trade, they sent away Andrew Lang, losing their only 6-foot-11 center.
Although the Trail Blazers had a huge advantage inside, Barkley fumbled once again when guarding Ah Gan one-on-one.
His bold three-point shot missed, and Gan Guoyang once again received the ball at a low post, powered into the basket, and easily scored with a hook shot.
Barkley was furious. Low-post backdown, a specialty of his as well.
Sometimes, at critical moments, Barkley would start off with the ball, bottom sticking out, from beyond the three-point line all the way to under the basket, and score.
This nearly shameless low-post offensive technique was utterly useless against the Trail Blazers.
Because Barkley couldn’t budge Ah Gan.
As the game reached a critical juncture, Barkley finally couldn’t bear it. He received the ball inside the three-point line and started backing into Ah Gan.
Once, twice, thrice — Barkley became increasingly unsteady, yet Gan Guoyang barely moved.
"Charles, didn’t you eat?" Gan Guoyang even bothered to ask about Barkley’s diet.
In the end, as Barkley could no longer advance, he could only pass the ball to Kevin Johnson, who drove in, passed the ball, An Ji then drove and passed, eventually Eddie Johnson took a jump shot, but missed.
Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound, his 14th of the game, and then countered with a one-man fast break. He didn’t even speed up but relied purely on strength to forge a path, pushing against Mark West all the way to the basket for a "horseback archery" shot, scored, and even drew a foul from West.
The Suns’ front court could only cross their arms in frustration, watching Ah Gan make the extra free throw.
The Suns called a timeout, but it was to no avail. The Trail Blazers were leading by 8 points, with little time left in the game.
Following the timeout, Barkley’s three-point attempt also missed, and the scoreboard froze at 114:122. The Trail Blazers secured the victory with an 8-point lead.
Although the Suns had performed excellently, the fatal weakness in their rim capabilities left them powerless to compete against the mighty Trail Blazers during crucial moments.
Barkley scored 36 points with 11 rebounds, his performance was not inferior to Ah Gan’s 34 points and 14 rebounds.
In some rounds, he almost surpassed Ah Gan, helping the Suns nearly touch the edge of victory.
But the slight difference in talent meant that Gan Guoyang still snagged the victory.
At the end of the game, Gan Guoyang praised Barkley, "You’ve really improved a lot this year, Charles. I even broke a sweat."
Barkley gave Gan Guoyang a punch, saying: "You just have better teammates, Sonny. You’re nothing special... Can I come over to your place for supper tonight? I want a burger."
Barkley had learned to be smarter; eating at Gan Guoyang’s place after the game rather than before, to prevent a stomach upset.
"You’re always welcome."
After losing the game, the Suns realized their shortcomings.
They made adjustments soon, and on December 5, they conducted a trade.
They sent Eddie Johnson and a draft pick to the Dallas Mavericks, in exchange for center Sam Bowie.
The two draft picks from 1984, numbers 4 and 6, teamed up, and following that, the Suns also signed Joe Barry Carroll from free agency, further reinforcing their interior lineup, attempting to overthrow the Trail Blazers’ dominance in the Western Conference.
