I feel good, but if possible, I’d still choose to involve my teammates, rather than playing solo.
In fact, this period in the third quarter is a perfect opportunity for the Suns to catch up, yet Barkley didn’t seize it.
Of course, perhaps Barkley consumed a lot of energy in the first half and didn’t want to exert himself too early in the third quarter, intending to save it for the decisive moments later.
At the very least, he would wait for Guoyang to start pushing hard, then respond accordingly.
However, thinking this way puts him at a disadvantage, following someone else’s rhythm.
Gan Guoyang slowly got through the early trouble in the third quarter, using defense and a slow pace to hold back the Suns’ scoring momentum.
Paul Westphal similarly didn’t keenly seize this opportunity for a comeback, which is his flaw.
He’s very smart, extremely smart, but he has never truly experienced the taste of winning a championship; he is not a championship player.
In this regard, Beelman is better than Westphal, as he called a timeout for adjustment six minutes into the third quarter.
The score was 78:73, with the Trail Blazers leading by 5 points; halfway through the third quarter, they had only scored 9 points, showing very low efficiency.
But with the sharp intuition from his 10-year collaboration with Gan, Beelman sensed that Gan’s moment was coming.
So he immediately called a timeout, substituted Petrović and Lewis out, and brought in Porter and Curry.
This is a lineup that can fully open up space, designed to give Gan a stage.
Gan Guoyang drank some water, looked up at the time, indeed, it was almost time; he felt great.
The Suns hadn’t realized the danger yet, continuing their usual rotation, emphasizing catching up and improving shooting percentage.
As soon as the timeout ended and both sides returned, Gan Guoyang received the ball at the elbow and took a mid-range shot, but missed as it was too long.
Sabonis fiercely batted the ball out, Ali grabbed it and immediately passed it back to Gan Guoyang.
From the same position, Gan Guoyang shot again and scored steadily!
Gan Guoyang fist-bumped Sabonis and Ali, thanking his teammates for their support and trust.
On the Suns’ side, it was still Kevin Johnson’s breakthrough and floater; Gan Guoyang didn’t jump to block.
The result was still short; fear had crept in, hands become tentative.
Grabbed the rebound, counterattack, positioned at the elbow, held off West.
Received the ball, turned to create distance, shot from mid-range again, scored!
Two consecutive mid-range scores, and they were purely unreasonable shots.
The Suns realized something was wrong, but Dan Majerle hit a three-pointer to let the Suns catch their breath.
Gan Guoyang received the ball at the elbow for the third time, Suns came to double-team, Gan Guoyang retreated and passed the ball to the wing Porter.
Porter shot and scored from three-point range! Spot-up shooter Porter was performing impressively tonight.
The Trail Blazers responded with a three-pointer, stabilizing the lead at 9 points; this was critical.
Barkley realized something was wrong and stood out to play one-on-one, facing the basket and aggressively driving against Sabonis.
But got blocked by Gan Guoyang who came over to help, with a big block — Gan Guoyang’s blocks tonight would reach double digits.
In a counterattack, Porter passed the ball to Gan Guoyang, and Gan Guoyang didn’t shoot a three-pointer.
Instead, he moved further inside, taking a more assured mid-range shot and scoring!
Three consecutive straightforward and decisive mid-range jumpers, leaving the Suns scratching their heads.
The lead extended to 11 points, and the Trail Blazers expanded their advantage to double digits again.
The Suns continued to tenaciously try to catch up, but they indeed missed the best chance to close the gap.
Tonight, the Suns were too step by step in their rhythm, always following the Trail Blazers.
This gave the injured Trail Blazers a chance to adjust and catch their breath.
Midway through the third quarter, Gan Guoyang accelerated, and the Suns couldn’t keep up.
Gan Guoyang received the ball at the elbow for the fourth time, the Suns didn’t dare to double-team.
Curry, Ali, Porter all could hit from three-point range, Gan Guoyang pushed off West and shot strongly from mid-range again – scored!
Barkley wanted to retaliate at the low post, but was once again blocked by the combined defense of Sabonis and Gan Guoyang!
Gan Guoyang delivered 10 blocks in just three quarters; toward the end, Suns players were afraid to venture into the Three Second Zone for a shot.
The Suns had desperately persisted for two and a half quarters but suddenly seemed to collapse in the latter half of the third quarter.
When the score gap reached 15 points, Westphal called a timeout and tried hard to boost the players’ morale.
But even Westphal didn’t know what to do because Gan had already reached an unbeatable state.
He scored 10 consecutive points in the third quarter, not much, but the Suns couldn’t keep up, and the other Trail Blazers were energized.
Charles Barkley saw the dullness and hesitation in Westphal’s eyes, holding a marker pen in hand yet unable to draw anything on the tactics board.
Barkley snatched the tactics board from the coach’s hand, tossed it onto the chair, and said, "Stop drawing, leave the ball to me for the rest; I will fix this. If we lose, it’s on me."
It was at this moment that the teammates began to understand the weight behind the phrase "I am Charles Barkley" before the series.