Karl had no confidence in verbally sparring with Beelman, especially here in Portland.
But Karl couldn’t back down; he couldn’t show fear. He had to hold on until the end of the game.
During the handshake between the coaches, Beelman refused to shake hands with Karl, making it awkward for Karl.
At 7:30 p.m., the game officially began—both teams embarked on this crucial fifth game, a decisive match for the series.
Terry Porter remained on the sidelines, and the Trail Blazers made an adjustment in the starting lineup, with Mario Ely starting at the small forward position.
Reggie Lewis returned to the shooting guard position, and Petrović moved to the point guard position.
Beelman intended to strengthen the backcourt defense and fortify the team’s perimeter to prevent the Supersonics from launching too many counterattacks.
Before the game, Beelman assigned Mario Ely the task of locking down Supersonics’ guard, Ricky Pierce.
In the 1993 season, the Supersonics were developing Payton and Kemp as the core players, but based on on-court performance, perimeter player Ricky Pierce was the more crucial one.
Especially on the offensive end, Pierce’s scoring from the perimeter played a vital role.
In the two games the Trail Blazers won earlier, Pierce’s performance had been mediocre.
Back in Seattle, Pierce scored 24 points in the third game and 25 points in the fourth game.
Moreover, many of Pierce’s points weren’t tactical points but rather solid individual scores.
Pierce wasn’t a super scorer; at 33, he was entering the latter stages of his career.
Back when he was a substitute for the Milwaukee Bucks and won the Sixth Man of the Year, he could average 23 points per game.
His perimeter shooting ability and tough penetration were what Payton, a "jack-of-all-trades," lacked.
So whenever the game was on the line, it was Pierce who stepped up to score and stabilize the game.
Beelman realized this issue and was determined to contain Pierce on the defensive end.
Pierce stands 6 feet 4, not very tall, with an average wingspan, but he’s strong and has very solid skills.
Meanwhile, Mario Ely is 6 feet 5, slightly taller than Pierce, equally strong, and very tenacious defensively.
George Karl saw Beelman starting Ely and immediately knew that the Trail Blazers were targeting Pierce.
Ely initially made his mark during Karl’s tenure in the CBA, achieving an impressive record on Karl’s team.
Subsequently, NBA noticed him, and he successfully entered the NBA, so Karl knows Ely well.
He knows Ely is an excellent role player, and Pierce is likely to encounter trouble tonight.
But Karl didn’t have any other solutions; the team inherently lacked a super isolation scorer.
To some extent, Payton and Kemp were anomalies and had flaws as core players.
They could only rely on a 33-year-old veteran like Pierce to provide scoring when tactics failed.
The importance of Pierce goes without saying. During his peak with the Bucks, he was always in the Sixth Man role.
Upon joining the Supersonics, Karl discovered how vital his perimeter scoring was and had to place him in the starting lineup.
Now, Beelman had seized on this weakness of the Supersonics and ramped up the effort to strangle it.
In the first few minutes of the first quarter, both sides played back and forth, while Gan Guoyang didn’t rush to exert himself.
He continued cooperating with teammates, organizing, passing, as if he had forgotten his 50-point vow.
Meanwhile, the Supersonics continued using tough defense to cause turnovers, capitalizing on fast breaks and energy to score.
As the series entered Game 5, both teams understood each other, and their play styles became cautious.
With a 10:10 start, both teams endured a relatively tranquil warm-up jogging phase.
At this time, Bobby Berman stood up from the bench and approached the sideline.
It seemed to signal that the Trail Blazers were ready to speed up.
Gan Guoyang began calling for the ball in the low post, first moving to the left side.
On the perimeter, Petrović passed the ball to Sabonis, then ran inside to draw the defense.
Sabonis lobbed the ball to Gan Guoyang, and the Supersonics’ double-team immediately came.
Gan Guoyang patiently passed the ball out, back to Sabonis, who paused before passing it back inside.
By this time, Gan Guoyang had squeezed into a deep position in the middle, catching the ball and immediately turning to hook shot.
Many Supersonics players’ hands were waving nearby, but none could interfere with Gan Guoyang.
From such close range, it was practically a freebie for Gan Guoyang, as he easily scored the two points.
After making this shot, Gan Guoyang didn’t immediately retreat but stayed in the frontcourt to execute tight defense.
This was another adjustment for the Trail Blazers in tonight’s game.
You Supersonics like tight defense, right? I’ll return the favor with the same strategy.
Likewise, increasing the intensity of tight defense early, disturbing your first pass, making it uncomfortable for you.
Gan Guoyang’s ability to defend smaller players is formidable; Payton felt as if he was surrounded by a cage while dribbling past the half-court.
He habitually tried to use his body to pressure the defender, his usual strategy, being taller and stronger than most point guards.
But this is Ah Gan, and trying to collide with him was like hitting a wall, resulting in Payton’s unstable dribble.
Gan Guoyang swiftly stripped the ball away, successfully stealing it, and immediately passed it to the frontcourt, where Petrović had already dashed ahead.
Catching the ball for a quick layup, the Trail Blazers scored another 2 points, 10:14, as the Trail Blazers began accelerating their efforts.
The Supersonics had to keep pace, yet Gan Guoyang continued to put pressure on Payton, forcing him to pass.
The ball went to Kemp, who hesitated near the three-point line before deciding to drive inside himself.