On April 24th, after several days of rest, the NBA 1996-1997 season playoffs ignited.
In the Western Conference, the Utah Jazz achieved their first-ever division regular season top ranking, facing the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, a matchup without much suspense.
The third-seeded Houston Rockets will face the sixth-ranked Phoenix Suns in the first round; they fell short in the battle for fourth against the Seattle SuperSonics.
If they win this round, they will meet the winner between the Trail Blazers and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the semifinals—this is the first time the Timberwolves have made the playoffs since their founding.
The SuperSonics face the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round; although avoiding the Trail Blazers in the semifinals, they now face a tough opponent in the first round.
Under the leadership of Bobby Berman, the Lakers achieved a 55-27 record this season, marking the first time since Magic Johnson’s retirement in the 1990-1991 season that the team reached 50 wins.
They hope to advance further in the playoffs and teach the SuperSonics, who chose their opponents, a lesson about the risks of such choices.
The Trail Blazers have been playing and training in Portland since mid-April; for the first two games of the playoffs, they continued to stay in Portland, resting and preparing.
Bird did not schedule too much training but maintained a daily practice routine until the matches officially began on the 24th.
After Gan Guoyang’s retirement in December 1994, the Trail Blazers missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons.
For Portland fans, it was a stark contrast for the former Western Conference powerhouse to miss the playoffs.
Fortunately, Ah Gan returned, and everything returned to normal, as the familiar "Sunrise" symphony played once again in the playoff entrance ceremonies.
The Trail Blazers players entered the court wearing white uniforms, exuding an aura different from the regular season, with Gan Guoyang sporting a serious expression.
During the regular season, he usually wore a relaxed expression, but in the playoffs, it shifted suddenly, even making some teammates feel uncomfortable.
In the locker room, Gan Guoyang told the young players that the playoffs are a completely different battlefield, not at all like the regular season with its performative nature.
The Timberwolves may be a relatively weak opponent, but if underestimated, underestimating them in the playoffs could lead to major losses.
The young players understood this principle but couldn’t fully grasp it yet; they needed more experiences.
For most players, unless you experience a heart-wrenching defeat once or twice in the playoffs, you won’t have a true understanding.
Even a perennial winner like Gan Guoyang has lost series in the playoffs, making for deep lessons learned.
Bird’s thoughts aligned with Gan Guoyang’s, as he prepared thoroughly before the games.
However, Bird realized after consulting with the coaching staff that his options were admittedly limited.
Ah Gan was both the biggest and only trump card, and he needed to be fully trusted.
Besides him, the Trail Blazers had very few veterans, especially those with rich playoff experience.
In the ’90s, playoff games had slower pacing, fewer possessions, and stronger physical confrontations, suiting veteran players with more experience.
Currently, only AC Green and Terry Porter meet those requirements for the Trail Blazers, but their performance levels could no longer reach the core level needed in the playoffs, only serving as key rotational players.
PJ Brown had the experience of winning a championship with the Trail Blazers, but he was still young then, considered a fringe player, and during the seasons he grew, the Trail Blazers hadn’t made the playoffs.
Bird still needed to boldly use young players; the first round against the Timberwolves was a great opportunity for the young players to practice, as the Timberwolves were even younger and more inexperienced than the Trail Blazers, with none of their starting five over 30 years old.
Kobe, Little O’Neal, and Ben Wallace, who all showed impressive performance during the regular season, were included in Bird’s rotation system.
The Timberwolves mostly participated in this round with a learning approach in a matchup with not much suspense.
Kevin Garnett and his teammates arrived in Portland two days early for acclimation training; their goal was to try and win at least one game against the Trail Blazers in the first round.
Gan Guoyang seldom lost games in the first round, with most results being sweeps; even winning one game would be an honor for the Timberwolves.
In pre-match discussions, both teams remained silent, with the Trail Blazers having nothing to say, and the Timberwolves having nothing daring to be said.
The first game between the two teams began promptly at 7:30 PM, with the match unfolding without much suspense. The Trail Blazers surged in the first quarter, achieving a powerful offense and securing a 38-25, 13-point lead.
If the Trail Blazers hadn’t taken it easy in the latter half of the first quarter, the gap would have been even larger.
The Trail Blazers’ offense played rather smoothly, but the main reason for the 13-point lead was still the Timberwolves playing poorly.
They showed no defensive focus, riddled by the increasingly smooth offense of the Trail Blazers.
Carl’s "flowing offense" finally took shape by the end of the season; he hoped this tactical system could accomplish something in the playoffs.
During the second and third quarters, the Trail Blazers maintained firm control over the Timberwolves and pushed hard in the late third quarter, completely breaking the Timberwolves.
In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves quickly faltered, and Bird subbed the young lineup for the final half-quarter with the requirement: "Must maintain the lead, or they won’t get playing time in the next game."
Kobe, Little O’Neal, and Ben Wallace played diligently in the last half-quarter, finally settling the score at 116-95, with the Trail Blazers earning a 21-point victory at home over the Timberwolves, capturing the first series win.