Mu Lin quickly hit a three-pointer, breaking the ice.
On defense, the Warriors stick to basic one-on-one man defense.
Nielsen doesn’t want complex defenses to drain the players’ energy on offense.
Gan Guoyang received the ball at the top of the arc, hit a mid-range jump shot.
His shooting touch at the start is quite good.
Unlike previous games, Gan Guoyang didn’t start by making plays for his teammates.
Instead, he’s holding the ball more and launching attacks himself.
He seems to be more immersed in his own world.
He’s not concerned with how the opponents play, nor is he very interested in what his teammates are doing.
Halfway through the first quarter, Spreewell found an opportunity in the offense.
He received the ball in the middle, made a step-through move, and charged toward the basket from the front, challenging Ah Gan.
He wanted to dunk over Ah Gan, executing an alley-oop dunk!
Spreewell observed that Ah Gan’s attention was somewhat scattered.
His eyes were fixed on Lister on the other side, a great chance!
Spreewell leapt up like an agile leopard.
Then Ah Gan, from the front, snuffed Spreewell’s attempt with a huge block.
A solid block, the ball was directly seized by Ah Gan.
Spreewell felt like he hit a wall.
He lost balance in the air and fell heavily to the ground.
He hoped the referee would call a foul, but there was none.
The referee followed the Trail Blazers’ fast break to the other end of the court.
Ah Gan passed the ball to Petrović.
Petrović made a high-arching assist, and Gan Guoyang scored with a two-handed alley-oop dunk.
By the time the Trail Blazers’ offense ended, Spreewell had just gotten up from the ground.
His arm felt slightly numb, what a terrifying block.
This guy’s attention wasn’t even on me; why is he so fast...
Spreewell couldn’t understand, but Ah Gan was already back guarding the Three Second Zone.
This 6’10" yellow giant, no wonder Mu Lin said, "He’ll make you fearfully hesitate in the Three Second Zone."
"Tonight, your primary goal is to overcome this fear."
Unfortunately, Spreewell, eager to make a name for himself, did not heed the advice.
Just like young rookies entering society for the first time, always turning a deaf ear to the words of the older generation, their minds filled with fantasies of fame and success.
Until reality smacks them hard, those words resurface, reminding them how best to reject them.
Mu Lin dribbled into the inside, not fast, not explosive, but with a great rhythm.
Using a timing difference to dodge Ah Gan’s defense, a left-hand floater scored two points.
Spreewell learned something from this score.
Sometimes speed and explosiveness aren’t everything.
Besides the brutal block, the two teams played relatively calmly in the first quarter.
Gan Guoyang scored 10 points in the quarter, shooting 5 out of 6, showing his great form tonight.
And Mu Lin felt good on offense too, scoring 12 points to keep the Warriors close.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was 30:31, with the Warriors leading by one point due to Hardaway’s free throws.
During the break, Beelman wanted Gan Guoyang to sit a little longer.
Gan Guoyang shook his head and said, "No, let me go back soon; my hand is quite hot tonight."
"Sonny, I want to reduce your playing time again this season."
"You might as well let me retire. Don’t reduce my time any further, I won’t accept it."
Since Beelman took over, he’s been working hard to protect Gan Guoyang.
His playing time has been reduced again and again, from prime times as the Cow King to now still considered okay.
But when Beelman is ready to continue reducing time to protect Gan Guoyang, Gan Guoyang disagreed.
He demanded that his playing time be fixed at 40 minutes, not a minute less.
"I’m here to play basketball, not to stay healthy," Gan Guoyang left his motto.
There was no choice, after the second quarter started, Gan Guoyang returned to the game.
Don Nelson instructed Tai Long Xi’er and Chris Gatlin to pay attention to enclosing Ah Gan.
"Consume him, disrupt his shots, he feels good on offense tonight, a problem."
Having played against Gan Guoyang for many years, Nielsen smelled something in the air.
Gan Guoyang returned with the backups of the substitutes to continue the game.
He saw Chris Gatlin with a headband guarding him, said: "Watch your head, I won’t be careful."
The Warriors’ substitute center Chris Gatlin injured his head in an accident in 1985.
He slipped and fell while washing a car on a cargo truck bed.
His head hit the ground, causing severe trauma to the skull.
To protect the skull’s safety, doctors installed a stainless steel plate on Gatlin’s head.
So the shape of his head looks somewhat weird.
The top of his skull is slightly pointed, if injured again, it can be life-threatening.
However, such severe trauma did not dampen his passion for basketball.
Gatlin is very active in the game, nicknamed "Exciter."
"You dare kill me, Ah Gan!" Gatlin showed no fear.
Gan Guoyang glanced once at this guy, never heard such a request before.
Thus, Gan Guoyang started to aggressively pound in the low post in the second quarter.
No matter how many Warriors surrounded him, he would turn in the low post and attack fiercely.
No more turning and jump shots, all were inside pushes, relying on force to struggle to score.
Gatlin was hit five times by Gan Guoyang, including a 2+1.
Finally, he was hit and collapsed a bit, asking during Gan Guoyang’s free throws:
"Ah Gan, stop it, my head hurts."
"If your head hurts, let Old Tang substitute you out."