More importantly, the situation was completely suppressed, and there was no confidence in talking trash.
At the end of the first half, Gan Guoyang scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, including 6 offensive rebounds.
The score was 41:66, with the Trail Blazers leading the Supersonics by 25 points. Seattle was completely blown out in the first half.
During halftime in the locker room, the entire Supersonics team was in a daze.
The big wins in the third and fourth games seemed like a dream.
They completely forgot how they won the games, how exactly did they win?
But that’s the NBA playoffs for you; between the two games, teams can often appear completely different.
Playing full of vigor in the last game, yet in a different time and place, they become listless.
This has a lot to do with the tactical changes of the coach and the players’ state transition.
After all, the Trail Blazers are six-time champions, and their championship aura isn’t so easily dispelled.
For the small Supersonics to overthrow the domination just by winning two home games is simply George Karl being too arrogant.
Arrogance comes with a price to pay. In the Trail Blazers’ locker room, Beelman is not planning to let the Supersonics and Karl off the hook.
"In the playoffs, don’t give the opponent any hope, don’t give them any chance! Mercy to the opponent is cruelty to yourself. Once you relax, the opponent will find your weakness, and they’ll spot your vulnerability. These two matches, we have to go all out, don’t give the Supersonics any room for illusion."
"In the second half, even if we are leading by 30 points, I won’t casually send in the substitutes; we keep playing, crush them, scare them, destroy them!"
It’s rare for Beelman to give such a "siege" order, it’s necessary to annihilate completely, leaving the Supersonics and Karl totally hopeless.
Gan Guoyang drank water in big gulps; he didn’t speak because he knew Beelman was right.
In ancient times, generals often had to rely on siege massacres to vent the soldiers’ grievances and simultaneously crush the enemy’s morale.
For the Trail Blazers in the previous few seasons, it wasn’t necessary; they had no grievances, they were a team of champions.
Now the situation is different; the Trail Blazers need to use such means to suppress opponents and boost the courage of the whole team.
Besides, Gan Guoyang didn’t want to rest either; he promised his dad to score 50 points tonight.
He couldn’t break that promise.
Once the second half began, the Trail Blazers became more and more vigorous.
Gan Guoyang got the feel for grabbing offensive rebounds, continuously snatching the ball.
After getting the ball, Gan Guoyang no longer passed it to his teammates; he attacked by himself.
If he missed, he would grab again, mainly focusing on infinitely racking up boards and points.
The Supersonics truly couldn’t compete without a big center.
When Gan Guoyang grabbed his 10th offensive rebound of the game and scored on a layup, Shawn Kemp finally couldn’t hold back.
He gave Gan Guoyang a fierce push from behind, but Gan Guoyang only staggered slightly, turning around to look at Kemp.
"Do you want to fight, Shawn?" Gan Guoyang asked politely.
Kemp didn’t know how to respond, the anger and resentment in his chest dissipated instantly.
Gary Payton quickly came over and stood between them, holding Ah Gan and saying, "Forgive him, Ah Gan, forgive him, he doesn’t know better."
Gan Guoyang patted Payton on his big head and said, "I don’t blame him, I’m just asking. If he wants to, I don’t mind."
The referee came over to prevent a possible conflict, calling Kemp a technical foul, and Gan Guoyang was to take a free throw.
Gan Guoyang hit the free throw, bringing his score up to 35 points, and the gap between the two teams went up to 30 points.
With such a huge disparity, the Supersonics played with less and less spirit, unable to muster the strength to organize a counterattack.
In fact, when trailing by a large margin and with plenty of time left, you must rally and fight back.
Not only because a basketball game isn’t over until the last moment, but also for the consideration of the next game.
If you can adjust well and chase aggressively when trailing by a large margin, even if you lose this game, you can quickly find your rhythm in the next one.
Moreover, having experienced a big defeat earlier, you become shamed into bravery and will definitely play better in the next game.
What is most feared is losing spirit after falling far behind and not catching up, waiting to restart in the next game.
But once the spirit dissipates, the most critical thing is that you’re unable to figure out how to counter the opponent’s strategies during the chasing phase.
The result is that you’re continuously beaten by the opponent’s tactics and lose the game again.
George Karl understands this, and Beelman understands it as well.
Karl continues to shuffle his players, and in the latter half of the third quarter, Beelman once again deploys the triple towers.
The Trail Blazers had a dominant triple-tower lineup in 1986, with Walton, Gan Guoyang, and Thompson.
Had it not been for Walton’s severe injuries affecting his condition early on, this lineup could have achieved more remarkable results.
Now, the center is still the severely injured one, replacing Thompson with the rookie PJ Brown.
And compared to 1986, Gan Guoyang is more powerful and more well-rounded.
At the small forward position, he is like a fish in water; he no longer anchors in the low post but moves all over the court.
He hovers like a ghost near the three-second zone and also creates opportunities at 45 degrees.
He is ubiquitous, making Supersonics players anxious: Is Ah Gan nearby?
His extraordinary stamina allows him to keep moving, contribute high-quality offense and defense.
By the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang no longer lunged for offensive rebounds because it was no longer necessary.
He began holding the ball and attacking, mid-range at the high post, mid-range at 45 degrees, mid-range at the baseline.
Without a doubt, he found his rhythm on offense, opened up his scoring touch entirely, and was unstoppable!