This was his first three-pointer in the second half, and his fourth three-pointer overall.
Right after, on defense, he blocked Armstrong’s mid-range shot.
Armstrong thought Ah Gan would stay inside as usual and not come out.
Who knew this guy would dart out like an arrow and catch Armstrong off guard with a block.
With possession, Gan Guoyang took big strides, dribbling forward like a truck.
His driving attacks were dubbed "Horror Impact" by NBA players of the same era.
It’s unstoppable, unbreakable; if you go for defense, you’ll likely give away a 2+1.
Then you’ll get hit hard yourself, losing the battle and the war.
In the ’92 finals, the Bulls essentially fell to this Horror Impact.
This season, the Bulls still have no way to stop this truck.
They can only watch Gan Guoyang rush to the basket and score with a slam dunk with ease.
The Trail Blazers widened the gap again.
Jackson didn’t call a timeout, and Jordan quickly hit a three-pointer at the top of the arc to stop the bleeding for the Bulls!
Jordan can indeed hit threes; this season, he’s especially excellent.
But Gan Guoyang then made a terrible turnover.
He finally caught the ball in the low post, intending to make a bounce pass behind his back to Sabonis on the opposite side.
But he didn’t control his passing technique well, and the ball went straight out of bounds.
A turnover gave the Bulls a chance to close the gap, and Jordan wouldn’t let it pass.
Another neat mid-range hit from the top of the arc, catching up by 5 points in a row!
The gap has shrunk to 4 points; the Bulls are showing their resilience.
On the next play, Gan Guoyang held the ball low again, and three Bulls players double-teamed him.
This time they finally managed to defend against Gan Guoyang’s hook shot.
After all, Ah Gan can’t make every shot 100% of the time.
The Bulls counterattacked, Jordan took the ball, stopping suddenly for a mid-range jumper.
Bingo! The Bulls are now just 2 points behind.
The Trail Blazers didn’t call a timeout, as Terry Porter and Sabonis hit a high pick-and-roll, then pulled up for a shot to stem the bleeding.
This helped the Trail Blazers to stop the bleeding; both teams were playing with increasing focus and precision.
The fans noticed that this Gan-Joe showdown seemed a bit different from before.
Both played in a more restrained manner, no longer attacking fiercely right from the start.
They had become more mature, focusing more on defense, organization, and subtle support roles.
Although they are still prominent, attracting attention just by standing on the court without doing anything.
Jordan’s mid-range jumpers in the third quarter were as sharp as flying knives, and his strategy to conserve energy in the first half was correct.
However, Gan Guoyang’s efficiency declined somewhat in the third quarter, but he often supported the ball, organized, and drew the Bulls’ defense, creating better space for his teammates.
Porter, Petrović, and Lewis made consecutive jumpshots, and if they missed, Gan Guoyang would grab the Offensive Rebound and pass it to teammates for another shot.
Tonight, after grabbing the Offensive Rebound, Gan Guoyang didn’t go for the basket himself; he passed it to his teammates, while the Bulls dared not relax their defense in the paint with all attention on Ah Gan.
Gan Guoyang used this attention to keep misdirecting, occasionally delivering a "Horror Impact," taking the Bulls by surprise.
The third quarter was a spectacle, with the Gan-Joe showdown becoming more strategic and measured compared to its previous fiery nature.
It was less about youthful exuberance and more about control and planning.
The fans noticed this too, initially feeling that the game wasn’t as intense as before.
But on closer inspection, perhaps more substance emerged.
However, in a post-game survey, most fans expressed that they still preferred the previous Gan-Joe showdowns.
Especially in the mid-’80s when Jordan was a dragon in repose and Ah Gan was a dragon that had just taken flight.
Their focused duels showcased heroic spirits dominating the field.
One had sword energy spanning three thousand miles, the other a mad blade cleaving mighty waves.
Both regularly scored 50, 60 plus points, rendering others mere NPCs and spectators.
The spotlight was solely on them; nothing else mattered.
That intense passion and feelings might never come back.
At the end of the third quarter, the score was 86:89, with the Trail Blazers leading the Bulls by 3 points.
Overall, the Bulls were in catch-up mode, and the Trail Blazers’ defense indeed wasn’t great.
But whenever the Bulls were catching up, Gan Guoyang could always lead his teammates to launch a counterattack and suppress the opponent.
The two sides entered the last offensive and defensive round of the fourth quarter; Gan Guoyang stayed on the court, and the Bulls dared not let Jordan rest.
The Bulls had suffered from this before, with the Trail Blazers utilizing Ah Gan’s stamina advantage during key moments when Jordan was not present.
Then widening the gap, by the time Jordan returned, it was already too late, and they would end up losing the game.
So when Ah Gan continued to play, Jordan continued to play.
This once again proved that conserving energy in the first half and not clashing with Ah Gan in the third quarter was the right move.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang received the ball in a relatively shallow position with his back to the basket.
As soon as the Bulls double-teamed him, Gan Guoyang made a behind-the-head pass to Sabonis under the basket.
Sabonis turned around and dunked easily; their cooperation was extremely tacit, needing no communication.
Jordan quickly received the ball at the left low post, performing a quick and elegant spin move followed by a fadeaway jumper.
The speed of Jordan’s shot was lightning-fast; Lewis barely made it to double-team before Jordan had already shot.
Gan Guoyang again received the ball at the same position, backing down in a shallow position, creating enough space for the inside cut.