Sabonis is tall and strong, but in terms of strength, he is a notch below O’Neal.
Once he’s trapped in the low post and pushed inside, there’s basically no way to stop the Shark’s attack.
Bird doesn’t plan to have Gan face O’Neal right from the start; Bird knows he must conserve Gan’s energy.
The Trail Blazers also start from the inside line; compared to O’Neal’s low-post bombardment, Gan Guoyang plays more flexibly.
He knows the Lakers’ perimeter defense is highly adaptable; in a low-post strong assault, they double-team quickly, and they can also quickly cover the pass.
Holi, Tracy McGrady, and Jide are all tall with long arms and quick footwork, so they can’t play too rigidly.
Gan Guoyang actively cooperates with Kobe and Brellock in screen-and-roll plays, exploiting O’Neal’s defensive weaknesses and hitting consecutive mid-range jump shots.
Once O’Neal steps out, Gan Guoyang will also directly pass the ball to Sabonis under the basket, and the opening quickly resulted in an 8-8 tie.
At this point, the game reached its first turning point; the Lakers tried to change the pace, starting to attack from the perimeter, using the cooperation between Jide and the wings to open space, targeting the weakness of the older Trail Blazers’ starters.
However, Gan Guoyang was flawless on defense, using excellent lateral footwork and precise positioning to foil Jide’s several breakthrough attempts and pass-outs.
Tracy McGrady tried to use his height to strong-arm Brellock but experienced a steal and a passing error after being double-teamed, allowing the Trail Blazers to execute a beautiful counterattack.
Kobe attacked the basket successfully; Mu Lin hit a three-pointer in the counterattack; Gan Guoyang scored on a putback during a fast break, and a 7-0 counterattack wave halted the Lakers.
Gan Guoyang’s precise defense targeted the weaknesses of Holi and Tracy McGrady: insufficient strength and average ball-handling attacking ability.
Holi’s role was just like that, whereas Tracy McGrady was still young and needed more practice; the intensity of the West Finals was evidently challenging for him.
The Lakers called a timeout; Del Harris readjusted, having no choice but to continue using O’Neal as the main scoring point.
Once O’Neal was the main focus, the Trail Blazers continued single coverage without double-teaming, allowing O’Neal to single out Sabonis without letting the Lakers’ inside-outside play connect.
The Lakers resumed scoring, but in the long run, their offensive efficiency was declining, lacking coordination inside out, decreasing the pressure on the Trail Blazers.
In the first quarter, the Trail Blazers led 29-24, leading the Lakers by 5 points; Gan Guoyang scored 10 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and made 1 block as planned.
In the second quarter, the Trail Blazers fielded a younger lineup, with Gan Guoyang active at the number three position, continuing to exert strong pressure on Holi and Tracy McGrady.
Jide was unable to cope under Kobe’s relentless one-on-one engagement, no longer able to pass the ball comfortably like he did in the first and second games, having to be wary of Kobe’s steals and counterattacks.
Thus, the Lakers’ perimeter offense gradually collapsed, unable to perform coherent, fluid teamwork, relying solely on individual players’ skills to score sporadically.
When it got tough, they just lobbed the ball inside for O’Neal to handle, which he relished, scoring 21 points in the half while leaving Sabonis battered.
However, looking at the score, the Trail Blazers were leading the Lakers by 8 points at halftime, 51-43; both teams’ scores were relatively low, but the situation was very unfavorable for the Lakers as their offense was restrained.
The Trail Blazers only scored 51 points in the half because... after Gan Guoyang scored 10 points in the second quarter, he refused to score anymore, strictly adhering to his game plan to conserve stamina for the latter half.
If it were his old self, given the Lakers’ performance, he would’ve widened the lead by 15 points in the second quarter, making the game lose suspense.
Or he would have both sealed off the Lakers’ wings and guards while taking care of O’Neal to prevent him from playing too comfortably.
Now he plays more selectively, resembling Jordan more.
In the third quarter, both teams raised the intensity to the maximum, with the Lakers launching a furious counterattack wave.
Sure enough, the Trail Blazers faced a bad moment from the perimeter, missing consecutive shots, allowing the Lakers to close the gap to just 2 points.
This is when Gan Guoyang stood out, repeatedly cutting into the inside to draw fouls, hitting free throws to stabilize the situation.
Following this, on the defensive end, he single-handedly guarded against O’Neal, resulting in O’Neal missing once and hesitating to shoot another time, halting the Lakers’ counterattack wave.
With the situation stabilized, Gan Guoyang backed down O’Neal and Thorpe in the low post, even with triple coverage, and successfully expanded the lead back to 10 points.
In the third quarter, Gan Guoyang scored 12 points, collected 5 rebounds, supporting the Trail Blazers to suppress the Lakers’ fierce counterattack, and took the advantage into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Lakers made a last stand, with Del Harris suddenly fielding Fisher and Jide as the backcourt duo; Fisher’s two three-point shots gave the Lakers a glimmer of hope for a comeback.
At this time, Gan Guoyang immediately responded with a three and an aggressive 2+1 drive to the basket, answering both shots to extinguish the Lakers’ hope of catching up.
This was the final turning point of the game; after dousing the Lakers’ surprise attempt, the Trail Blazers firmly grasped the advantage.
In the last two minutes, Bird started the hack-a-Shark strategy, fouling O’Neal to send him to the free-throw line, forcing Del Harris to substitute O’Neal out.
Without O’Neal, the Trail Blazers’ Twin Towers acted more recklessly, relying on offensive rebounds to kill time.
Grabbing an offensive rebound means another 24-second attack time, gradually draining the Lakers’ hope of catching up.
In the end, the Trail Blazers defeated the Lakers 102-94 on the road, securing an 8-point advantage for their third victory in the Western Conference Finals, a classic Trail Blazers-style slow kill.
Gan Guoyang shone once again in Los Angeles, scoring 41 points, grabbing 21 rebounds and blocking 4 shots.
O’Neal scored an empty 36 points, being limited to just 2 points in the fourth quarter due to free throws and inability to break Gan Guoyang’s single defense.
The scale of the series tilted once again towards the Trail Blazers, as Gan Guoyang gradually adapted, playing like an ordinary player.