Chapter 802: Chapter 24 Secret Weapon_2
Bird is after all older now; he dares not joke with his back. A strong drive to the basket for a layup and getting bumped from behind by Ah Gan could end his career then and there.
Settling into positional warfare, Bird wanted to use his highly penetrating passes to help teammates score under the basket; he’s now playing entirely in the style of a point forward.
But Gan Guoyang rooted himself under the basket, continually using his long arms to disrupt the Celtics’ players’ shots and layups.
At the same time, Sabonis lingered near the three-second zone to assist on defense, and the big man’s perimeter defensive capabilities were underestimated.
When playing for the Soviet national team, Sabonis often defended from the three-second zone to the three-point line, and his mobility was not bad.
Therefore, it was a nice adjustment for Bobby Beelman to move Gan Guoyang back to the center position and let Sabonis take the power forward spot.
The Trail Blazers’ defense thus became more solid; despite having a smaller frame than Sabonis, Gan Guoyang’s defensive presence in the three-second zone was much more intimidating.
A lot of players, looking at Sabonis, would think to try and challenge this peak, with Jordan even dunking over Sabonis’ head several times.
But facing Ah Gan, anyone would have to weigh their chances; unless there was an excellent opportunity, better to just shoot.
The Celtics were able to hold their own against the Trail Blazers at the start, but as the game went on, they couldn’t find opportunities under the basket, and their offensive efficiency began to slide.
The Trail Blazers gradually gained the upper hand, their offense fiercer, stronger, with powerful drives to the basket and many second-chance points, leaving Divac and Parrish struggling to defend.
At this point, Celtics coach Chris Ford missed Reggie Lewis; if Lewis were here, the Celtics could have been more athletic on the wing.
What this Celtics team lacked the most now was athleticism, with three White starters and another White player as the sixth man from the bench.
Bird’s back was shot, Hornacek and Divac both relied on smarts to play, Parrish was already 37 years old, and Brian Shaw wasn’t known for great physical prowess.
The entire Celtics was relying on tactics, experience, and chemistry to compete; against weaker teams, they could play smoothly, securing the league’s top record early in the season.
However, as the season progressed, when faced with teams like the Trail Blazers that had strong tactical discipline and physical fitness, they struggled on both ends of the floor.
Especially on defense, they would successfully guard some possessions, only to have the opponent grab an offensive rebound and use it to make a second-chance attack, which was really demoralizing.
For the Celtics to win, first, they had to achieve a very high accuracy in offense, especially from the perimeter, to prevent the Trail Blazers from launching fast breaks.
Secondly, the reserves needed to step up and maintain the offense, taking advantage in the chaos.
Midway through the first quarter, the score stood at 14:18, the Trail Blazers leading the Celtics by 4 points.
Chris Ford called a timeout and subbed in Kevin Gamble for Hornacek to enhance the backcourt’s athleticism.
Hornacek could play against other teams, but against his old Trail Blazers teammates, his style was too well-reflected, and he struggled.
Tonight, the Trail Blazers’ backcourt defense was highly targeted, assigning Terry Porter to guard Hornacek and leaving Reggie Lewis to guard Brian Shaw.
Porter and Hornacek, having grown up together, knew each other too well, and neither played well when pitted against each other tonight.
And with Reggie Lewis far surpassing Shaw in stature, his defense made Shaw very uncomfortable.
Bird became the only reliable outside organizing spot, which certainly wouldn’t work for the offense.
Kossie was very aggressive in defense, and Ford needed Gamble to alleviate the backcourt pressure.
The Trail Blazers made no personnel changes, and after the timeout, Divac received the ball at the high post and passed it to a cutting Bird.
Facing Ah Gan, Bird lofted a high-arcing shot which sailed over the fingertips of Gan Guoyang, bouncing off the front of the rim and into the basket.
In terms of skill, Bird was still top-tier, and only he could make such a relaxed shot in the face of Ah Gan’s defense.
"Close one, close one, almost got that block," Bird quipped after scoring.
For someone like him, playing well without showing off is the same as not playing well at all.
Afterward, sub-in Kevin Gamble caught the ball for a jump shot and scored, then hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc.
Gamble wasn’t the kind of backcourt player with explosive strength, but he was taller than Hornacek and had a slightly faster release.
He came on the court to shoot, to score, to ignite the backcourt firepower, reducing the pressure on Bird.
Sometimes basketball is very simple: scoring is the hard truth. Gamble’s quick 5 points showed that this substitution was a good one.
At the end of the first quarter, the game was tied at 24:26, with the Trail Blazers only ahead of the Celtics by 2 points.
Beelman called a timeout, and both sides began their first rotation of players.
Petrović took off his jacket, replacing Porter, while Gan Guoyang also took a rest, with Davis coming in.
With this lineup, the Trail Blazers’ focus of attack and defense immediately shifted from inside to the outside.
The Celtics did the opposite, Kevin McHale came on, and Bird sat down to rest.
After heading off, Bird found a towel, laid it on the floor courtside, then lay down, propping his elbow on the towel, which eased some pressure on his back.
The transition between the first and second quarters saw an even more fierce game, with the pace picking up speed.
