But the collision with Gan Guoyang made Duncan realize what it means to have someone above you, what "Power King" truly means.
The Trail Blazers, having won possession, launched a fast break with sweet hand-offs between Kobe and Little O’Neal.
Kobe took one step into the basket, shaking off Duncan, and then burst up for a single-handed dunk!
There are still some issues with the Celtics’ guard defense; even under Beelman’s instruction, Nash’s defense remains poor.
Nash was mismatched against Kobe, and Kobe seized the opportunity, cleanly bypassing him with a hand-off screen.
However, Nash quickly demonstrated his value on the offensive end, skillfully dribbling to shake off the strong stealing Brellock.
In the middle court, he used rhythmic dribbling and observed the cuts towards the basket, suddenly shot like riding a horse, using his height advantage for a graceful shot, securing two points.
As a white guard, Nash’s absolute speed and explosiveness aren’t particularly fast or strong, but his ball-handling and reaction speed are astonishingly quick.
His offense is never sloppy, brisk in tempo, and adept at threading passes in tight spaces, playing the role of an excellent commander and attacker on the court.
When Mu Lin’s outside three-pointer missed, Duncan once again grabbed a defensive rebound and passed to Nash, who initiated a quick counterattack.
He took advantage of Brellock’s impatience, dribbling and turning past the defense, driving into the open three-second zone, passing to Fox in the corner.
Fox shot a three from the zero-angle for the second time, and it landed! A 5-point chase, the Celtics closed the gap to 1 point as the first quarter was about to end.
At this point, everyone knew Gan Guoyang was going to play one-on-one. In the low post, Gan Guoyang was originally marked by Cliff-Robinson, but Duncan took on the task of defending one-on-one.
Beelman, seeing the defensive matchup, felt a tightness in his chest and cursed silently: "Damn, why switch to Tim for the defense?"
Duncan’s defensive techniques are absolutely impeccable, with his anticipation and those long arms, it’s extremely difficult for any low-post player to score over him.
But he is facing Ah Gan.
In the low-post one-on-one, Gan Guoyang is very skilled at adapting to the opponent rather than relying on a single move to rule all.
Facing a technically sound, anticipating NCAA academy-style big man like Duncan, Gan Guoyang excels at using primitive means to break them down.
In the shallow position, performing a Hickma Step with a turn to face the basket, lowering his head, sinking his center of gravity, after three threats suddenly starts a strong face-up drive!
The Celtics are already missing Ilgauskas in the paint, leaving the three-second zone empty; Duncan felt totally off balance under Gan Guoyang’s monstrous force, losing his footing completely.
Following that, Gan Guoyang sliced into the basket like a hot knife through butter, finishing with a single-handed powerful dunk!
On this play, Duncan wanted to foul but couldn’t muster the strength, being completely pushed aside, having no choice but to watch the basket get breached helplessly.
After the baseline throw-in, Duncan realized there was merit in Beelman keeping him away from defending Ah Gan.
The scouting report was indeed accurate; the disparity in strength rendered defensive techniques useless.
Subsequently, Nash made another jump shot, and Gan Guoyang followed up with another mid-range shot.
Ultimately, the Celtics finished the first quarter 23:26, trailing the Trail Blazers by 3 points, with both sides fairly evenly matched.
Duncan didn’t score at all in the first quarter, losing possession several times, he didn’t even get a decent shot attempt.
After the second quarter began, the second line-ups from both teams battled on the court, showing the Trail Blazers’ dominance once again.
Their second lineup is young, vibrant, and has experience from last season.
The Celtics’ second lineup appears somewhat weak, as the Trail Blazers soon widened the gap to 9 points.
Beelman called another timeout, aiming to readjust the team’s defensive and offensive strategy, though the effect was not substantial.
Beelman realized that this year’s Trail Blazers are truly strong, their 15-game winning streak wasn’t just a fluke.
The most notable aspect is their offensive consistency, almost never having a blackout moment.
This is similar to the 1990 and 1991 Trail Blazers, with someone always able to step up and take over the game momentarily.
You never know who it will be, the opponents don’t know, the defenders don’t know, even the Trail Blazers themselves don’t know.
It’s a nightmare for the defense, you can’t anticipate, can’t force the offensive side into choices, and the defense is completely passive.
In response, Beelman didn’t just take the hits but actively adjusted the offense, launching an offensive exchange with the Trail Blazers.
Striving to keep the score tight, not allowing it to exceed a 10-point gap.
Nash’s performance tonight is quite outstanding, fully mobilizing the Celtics’ outside offense.
Fox, Brown, and others all have scoring contributions from outside, all thanks to Nash’s threading the needle.
However, the inside point still couldn’t score, Duncan hasn’t even put any points on the board, causing a serious limp for the Celtics.
If the inside continues not to score, failing to form an inside-outside synergy, then in the second half, at some point, the offense will certainly collapse.
Currently, they’re hanging by Nash’s good condition; once this lifeline breaks without anyone to sustain it, the collapse will imminently follow.
When Duncan reentered in the second quarter, Beelman asked him to try scoring inside, but immediately his low-post offense was met with Gan Guoyang’s full block, making Beelman aware of Ah Gan’s plan tonight.
Because Gan Guoyang virtually abandoned chasing others and protecting the basket, putting himself in the role of a defensive blue-collar focusing on a specific opponent.
"This madman, he wants to shut Tim out completely!" Beelman paced back and forth on the sideline, brainstorming counter-measures.