This made the Lithuanian players increasingly anxious, and at this moment Matulionis hit another three-pointer!
He had the hottest hand for Lithuania in the second half, already making three three-pointers in today’s game.
It was time to test Gan Guoyang’s touch again.
Hu Weidong dribbled past the half-court, passed to Sun Jun, and then to Sun Fengwu.
Gan Guoyang was entangled with Sabonis at the low post.
In terms of height and build, Sabonis was much taller than Gan Guoyang.
But in terms of strength, Gan Guoyang was even stronger than Sabonis.
Sun Fengwu lobbed the ball to Gan Guoyang, and everyone spread out.
The Lithuanian players still tried to shrink in to double-team Gan Guoyang.
Foul, Matulionis committed a defensive foul, his third foul already.
With two minutes remaining in the game, time, the confrontation between the two sides became fiercer.
To conserve energy, Jiang Xingquan decided to make a substitution, replacing the veteran Sun Fengwu with Adi Jiang.
Adi Jiang had little self-attacking ability; his greatest advantage was ball control, being able to maintain firm possession of the ball.
At this moment, China Team needed such a player; if you can control the ball without turning it over, then pass it to Gan Guoyang, you are a good guard.
Restarting the play, Adi Jiang got the ball and began to skillfully and flexibly dribble past Lithuania’s tight defense on the outside.
Penetrating through the middle to attract defense, he passed it to the trailing Gan Guoyang, who firmly grabbed the ball, brushed off the Lithuanian defense surrounding him, and forced a layup, drawing a foul.
Gan Guoyang and Adi Jiang clapped hands; this offensive play consumed time and resulted in a foul, achieving two goals in one action.
Adi Jiang thought, if this play were given to Song Ligang or Shan Tao, either they would lose the ball or miss the shot and get blocked; only Ah Gan could protect the ball and draw a foul from the opponent.
His strength was truly indescribable.
Gan Guoyang stepped up to the free-throw line and made both shots.
China Team suddenly executed full-court pressure defense.
Lithuania was caught off guard, and they hastily passed forward.
Gan Guoyang outmaneuvered Sabonis, stepping in front to successfully intercept the ball!
The successful interception was immediately passed to Adi Jiang by Gan Guoyang.
Short and sturdy, Adi Jiang zipped back and forth across the court like a groundhog.
He simply wouldn’t lose the ball and could control it well.
Dribbling for 10 seconds, he passed the ball to the approaching Gan Guoyang for support.
Gan Guoyang used nimble footwork and dribbling to avoid Lithuania’s strong attempts to intercept.
The Lithuanian players discovered that whenever they tried to engage in physical contact to intercept, they were bumped away upon meeting Gan Guoyang’s body.
This person was just too strong; you couldn’t interfere with high-intensity confrontation anymore and watched as Gan Guoyang drove the ball into the basket again.
The face-off between Sabonis and Gan Guoyang, two teammates!
As Sabonis prepared to have a hard clash with Gan Guoyang, Gan Guoyang suddenly went towards the baseline.
A classic, beautiful Moon hook, scoring a hook over Sabonis’ head!
Only 30 seconds remained in the game; this was a very crucial shot.
The gap widened from 5 to 7 points, leaving the Lithuanian team with no chances.
The coach called a timeout, and the China Team’s bench was already extremely excited.
No one expected that in the first game, they were about to defeat the European powerhouse, the Lithuanian Men’s Basketball Team!
87:80, in the second half, Lithuania scored only 31 points, while the China Team scored 49 points, overturning Lithuania by 18 points.
Of these 49 points, Gan Guoyang scored 31 alone, and the remaining 18 points were directly related to him.
Before the game ended, he had scored 45 points, secured 22 rebounds, and made 7 assists.
In defense, he contributed 8 blocks, making Lithuania only dare to shoot from the outside.
In the second half, under the dual pressure of psychology and defense, Lithuania made a poor shooting percentage from the outside.
This was the main reason they lost their 11-point lead, and one could say there was an element of luck for the China Team.
But in tournament formats, luck is indeed very important; after all, why couldn’t Lithuania make those shots themselves?
Jiang Xingquan made efforts to suppress his inner excitement—was the game, originally intended to be strategically abandoned, about to be won?
Originally, China Team was thought to rank low in the group, but now look, the European basketball nation Lithuania is not much, after all!
Returning from the timeout, Sabonis received the ball in the middle, and hit an extremely long three-pointer!
87:83, truly as expected from a player who has endured three years in the NBA; Sabonis’ personal ability was much stronger than before.
However, time was no longer on Lithuania’s side. Adi Jiang dribbled low again, weaving through the Lithuanian players, consuming 6 seconds before Lithuania finally managed to foul.
Adi Jiang made one of his two free throws, and at this point, Lithuania had no sufficient timeouts left. After Sabonis missed another three-pointer, Gan Guoyang grabbed his 23rd rebound of the game.
Lithuania conceded, China Team won 88:83, a 5-point advantage, defeating the strong rival Lithuania in their first group match.
After the victory, the Chinese players showed restraint, or perhaps they were a bit surprised; how did they win just like that?
It seemed almost effortlessly; quite a relaxed feeling.
It’s like even if I can’t beat you, if I look up, you’re somehow beaten.
How did you lose? My big brother took you down single-handedly.
With a data line of 45 points, 23 rebounds, 7 assists, 8 blocks, plus 2 steals—this kind of performance would be explosive even in the NBA.
Not to mention in the fast-paced, short-duration FIBA Olympics, it was simply a god-like display.
Moreover, Gan Guoyang’s efficiency was extremely high, with a shooting percentage of 75% and perfect free throws.