Before the game started the next day, Bird saw Red Auerbach on the sidelines. He was sitting in his usual spot wearing sunglasses, and the two exchanged a simple greeting without saying much.
Bird was feeling resentful in his heart. He had given his all to the Celtics, and he once thought he was Auerbach’s protégé, only to find out he was not. He was just an adopted son, not someone who truly had Celtics’ bloodline flowing through his veins, someone groomed from the beginning to be a Celtic.
The venue for tonight’s game was the Fleet Center, not the Boston Garden, making Bird feel even colder.
Bird had never played at the Fleet Center and had no feelings for the place. He was inwardly relieved, knowing if it were the Boston Garden, he would definitely feel upset because it held too many wonderful memories.
When the game started, unexpectedly, both sides played quite intensely.
The seemingly tanking Celtics actually dominated the Trail Blazers at the start, and their outside shooting was very precise.
During the first-quarter break, Bird told his teammates, "We might as well lose this game on purpose, it would upset them more than beating them."
Saying that, in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers gradually took the upper hand.
By the second half, as the third quarter started, the Trail Blazers finally got into their groove.
Gan Guoyang continued his offensive assault in the low post, helping to expand the team’s lead.
But the Celtics seemed to have taken some magic potion tonight, with an astonishingly high rate of success on their outside shots.
This was precisely the Trail Blazers’ biggest defensive problem; they couldn’t control their opponents’ long shots. Once the opposing team started hitting, it was hard to defend.
David Wesley, Antoine Walker, and Rick Fox repeatedly hit three-pointers on the outside.
Before the end of the third quarter, the Celtics managed to overtake the score thanks to Antoine Walker’s free throws.
Rarely had Bird been so furious on the sidelines, cursing the players’ defense as rubbish, not even sparing the usually steady Gan Guoyang.
"You’re just a dog!" he yelled at Gan Guoyang, implying that this crap performance was his doing and he couldn’t escape the blame.
Gan Guoyang, however, wasn’t angry. He continued to focus on the game, leading the team to gradually turn the tide and stabilize the situation with defense.
The game reached its most critical moment, in the last ten seconds, Gan Guoyang received a pass from Riddle, turned, and scored with a difficult left-handed hook shot.
The Trail Blazers changed the score to 102-101, completing a challenging buzzer-beater!
With the Celtics missing their final attempt, the Trail Blazers secured a tough victory on the road.
Bird let out a long breath, feeling a weight lifted off his shoulders. He desperately wanted to win, and even more so in Boston.
What he didn’t expect was that when the game ended, the entire Fleet Center audience stood up and applauded.
No one left early, including Auerbach, who stood up as well. The big screen above the court started playing a short video about Bird, replaying the highlights of his career.
At this moment, Bird was filled with tears, his eyes red as he waved to the fans on site, and Auerbach came down from the stands, the two embracing tightly.
Back in the locker room, Bird was still restless. He sat on the bench, looking up at the lights, lost in thought.
Gan Guoyang, bare-chested, came over and asked, "Coach, shouldn’t you thank me? My buzzer-beater won the game for you!"
Bird smiled slightly and said, "I really owe you thanks, Ah Gan. I want to say this is the most important game of my life. I’m not exaggerating, the most important."
Gan Guoyang was surprised, "What? That important? If I had known, I wouldn’t have used a left-handed hook, I should have used a more reliable right hand. At the time I thought if we lost, we lost. I wanted to try my left hand. Luckily, the shot went in."
Bird grabbed a towel from the side and threw it at Gan Guoyang’s head. Gan Guoyang, with the towel on his head, cheerfully went in to take a shower.