Chapter 914: Chapter 60: The Morning of the Champion_2
Phil Jackson couldn’t sit still anymore and shouted from the sidelines: "Where’s your defense? Defense! Stay focused, the game’s not over yet!"
The Bulls’ defense began to show some basic errors—losing track of players, focusing on the ball instead of guarding their man, hesitating on traps, and so forth.
All of these were tied to their mentality. The Bulls’ players were starting to lose their fighting spirit, and understandably so.
They had endured the Detroit Pistons, survived the brutality of The Palace of Auburn Hills, but for the first time they faced Portland Trail Blazers’ tireless teamwork, and for the first time they felt the Blazers’ unwavering resolve.
Jordan continued to try to carry the team forward on his shoulders, but there was a heavy weight in his heart: Gan Guoyang was still sitting on the bench, not yet on the court.
Driving into the paint, braving the defense for a layup—Jordan’s drive was unparalleled, but it couldn’t succeed every time.
This time, Sabonis and Lewis teamed up to block him, causing the ball to sail past the rim without going in. Underneath, Thompson calmly secured the rebound.
The ball was passed back into Petrović’s hands. At this moment, in the eyes of Bulls fans at Chicago Stadium, Petrović holding the ball was even more terrifying than Gan Guoyang holding it.
Petrović had fully hit his stride. With Gan not on the court, he was even more free to unleash his genius and creativity.
This was the moment he had been waiting for, waited so long that he had forgotten he was waiting for it—forgotten why he’d been tirelessly training every day, building muscle, honing his shooting, and sharpening his skills.
His girlfriend had left him. Though many women admired him, the once-charismatic Petrović had poured all his energy into the basketball court, training day and night.
His homeland was in turmoil and chaos. He wanted to return, but couldn’t. Every day, he watched CNN for news, then carried his worries to the court and kept training.
In this way, Petrović improved game after game. Of course, he no longer dreamed of surpassing Gan Guoyang. He didn’t even think about surpassing Jordan—he just wanted to break his own limits.
Opportunity.
The Bulls’ defense, in Petrović’s eyes at that moment, was riddled with cracks and openings.
Sabonis called for the ball in the low post. Grant and Armstrong focused all their attention on the Lithuanian big man.
Cuts, routes, and open spaces were left completely unguarded—no one cared. Their focus was entirely on the ball and the players they could see.
This indicated that the Bulls’ defensive instincts had stalled—they could only perceive the visible, unable to anticipate what was coming.
Sabonis received the ball, and Grant and Armstrong rushed over to trap him—leaving the paint wide open. Petrović slipped down to the basket with the help of a screen, received Sabonis’ pass, and finished an easy layup.
A simple and clever backdoor play tore through the Bulls’ defense. Phil Jackson couldn’t stomach how disorganized the team had become defensively and had no choice but to call a timeout.
The Trail Blazers gained a 5-point lead. Gan Guoyang clapped hands with Petrović, Sabonis, and the others. Unable to help himself, he exclaimed, "I have amazing teammates. Victory will surely be ours."
These words further energized the team. At this moment, Gan Guoyang took to the court, and both physically and mentally, he was fully charged—at an incredibly high level of excitement.
As soon as he returned to the court, Gan Guoyang delivered a spectacular block on Pippen. Pippen used fake moves to shake him off, but in the end, he couldn’t escape being swatted.
With that block, the Bulls’ strategy of having "Scottie Courageous Squad" Pippen contain Gan turned into a failure.
In truth, the Bulls had already done well to use this approach to win one game and nearly clinch a second. That was a solid effort.
It wasn’t Pippen alone who managed to tie up Gan—it was Jordan, Grant, Williams, Cartwright, and others backing him up. It was the Bulls’ system.
Pippen was simply the ideal player to lead the effort. He was versatile, physically gifted, and possessed ample drive and skill.
But once the Bulls’ system collapsed and Pippen had to face Gan one-on-one, relying on isolation plays to contain him was like carving a boat to catch the sword.
Gan Guoyang controlled the ball calmly, passing it to Petrović. The two ran a pick-and-roll at the high post, and Petrović again dashed toward the basket.
At this moment, no Bulls player could stop Petrović’s drives—not that they couldn’t, but because they froze. Everyone hesitated, legs felt like they were filled with lead.
As the Bulls collapsed inward in defense, Petrović passed the ball back to Gan. At the top of the arc, Gan received the ball. Jordan came over from the side to help defend, but Gan immediately swung the ball to Curry in the corner.
Curry caught the ball with no hesitation, unfazed by his earlier missed three-point attempt. He took the shot again—a three-pointer—this time, it was good!
A deadly three-point shot. Dell Curry always had the ability to hit clutch threes in games. That was why the Trail Blazers kept him on the roster, and also why the coach trusted him in crucial moments.
After the shot went in, the Trail Blazers reached a peak in morale, while the Bulls sank into a deep trough.
Even when Jordan stopped short for a quick jump shot and scored, it couldn’t reverse the team’s negative mood.
The Trail Blazers completely controlled the flow of the game. As Gan Guoyang easily caught the ball in the low post, spun inward, and slammed it home with one hand—while also drawing a foul from Grant.
Grant spread his hands—not complaining to the referee about the foul, but to his teammates: "Why am I soloing Gan? Where’s the double-team? Where’s the help?"
Gone. It was all gone.
Chaotic. Everything was chaotic.
Gan Guoyang made the extra free throw, and the Trail Blazers took a 9-point lead.
From trailing by 19 points to leading by 9, a 28-point turnaround—the Trail Blazers had done it.
In the final few minutes, the Bulls’ struggles were meaningless. The fans in the arena wished the game would just end already.
