Moreover, it’s different now from the 60s—back then the league had fewer than 10 teams, players weren’t the best in the world, and it only took two rounds in the playoffs to reach the championship.
The NBA’s influence hadn’t even expanded nationwide, mostly just impacting the Northeast and a small part of the West Coast.
Now, the NBA has nearly 30 teams, encompassing the best players globally, with its fame spreading worldwide as the top basketball league.
Portland’s championship definitely carries a different weight.
In the eyes of Portland fans, whether it’s the Knicks or the Pacers reaching the finals from the East, they wouldn’t be a match for the Trail Blazers.
The Bulls and Jordan are gone, leaving no one to threaten the Trail Blazers and Ah Gan.
When the buzzer sounded, the score was frozen at 110:101, with both sides letting loose at the end, the points surging upward.
The Trail Blazers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers by a margin of 10 points, winning the series 4-1, yet again defeating the Lakers to enter the finals.
The silver Western Conference champion trophy was hoisted by Gan Guoyang and his teammates, all of whom wore calm expressions, as they had done this many times.
Terry Porter stood on the sidelines without even the thought of touching it, his face expressionless and somewhat weary.
He had won it 8 times already, and this was the ninth; most importantly, there were 8 gold ones, and a Western Conference title was indeed unremarkable.
Portland fans were also very composed, with cheers and applause lasting about thirty seconds before they began to disperse.
It was like going through the motions, time to go home and rest, the expected Western Conference championship, and get ready for the finals.
With the grand and magnificent 1998 championship as a prelude, players weren’t too excited to win the Western Conference this time.
After returning to the locker room, they had a simple celebration, and Bird told everyone they had a day off and would practice at the gym the day after for the finals preparation.
After this game, the Trail Blazers still didn’t know who their finals opponent would be, as the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers were locked in a fierce battle.
They tied 2-2 in the first four games, with the crucial Game 5 taking place tomorrow in Indiana.
The winner will take the series lead, having a good chance to enter the finals and face off against the Trail Blazers.
Though neither team was the Eastern Conference’s best in the regular season, they both had considerable strength.
Unlike the rapid rise of the Celtics and Nets, the Pacers and Knicks had endured years under the Bulls’ oppression.
Their rivalry was deep, frequently encountering each other in playoffs and always sparking intense clashes.
This season, with the addition of Spree, the Knicks’ demeanor became more aggressive and fierce.
During the semifinals against the Celtics, they crushed the Twin Towers centered around Duncan.
Meanwhile, the Pacers were determined to make a comeback after their regrettable loss to the Bulls in last season’s Eastern Conference finals.
They retained their core lineup, adding rookie Al Harrington and veteran Sam Perkins to the front line, enhancing their bench depth.
Theoretically, their overall strength had improved, but unexpectedly, Reggie Miller’s form had fluctuated.
Miller’s regular-season scoring and shooting percentages had declined, more crucially, his clutch shots were less assured compared to the 1998 season.
In 1998, Miller frequently hit key shots at crucial moments, but this season, with form fluctuations or other reasons, his clutch performance was lacking.
And in the playoffs, unless there’s an absolute strength advantage, many games become very intense.
At crucial moments, it depends on whether the core players can make the critical shots.
Sometimes a crucial basket determines not just a single game’s outcome but the trajectory of the entire series.
On May 25th, the Eastern Conference finals’ Game 5, the pivotal battle at Indiana’s home court.
In this match, Gan Guoyang watched the live broadcast at home with his dad, as the winner could likely be the Trail Blazers’ finals opponent.
Gan Youwei didn’t just watch the Trail Blazers’ games; he watched other important games too. Now, he was indeed a "die-hard" fan.
For this, Gan Guoyang specifically bought an enormous TV, placing it in the living room for his dad to watch.
Gan Youwei always wore glasses, spread a small notebook on the table, and took notes while watching.
Occasionally, he’d write a comment or two, treating it as his memory vault, to slow down the speed of forgetting.
He had already filled dozens of such notebooks, meticulously organizing them on the bookshelf according to time.
This battle was intense, but the game wasn’t pleasant to watch.
From the start, both teams were missing shots wildly, leading to an extremely slow pace and numerous poor mid-range attempts.
By 5 minutes into the first quarter, the score was 2:3, with the Pacers leading by 1 point.
Gan Youwei was exasperated, slamming the table: "Are they playing soccer? Only two baskets in all this time!"
"Hey, hey, hey, watch your manners, don’t curse."
"Did I curse? I didn’t, right?"
"You just cursed."
"I forgot, what did I say? My Alzheimer’s is acting up."
"Don’t fake it, I don’t believe you. Don’t you still remember you have Alzheimer’s? Just watch the game properly."
Gan Youwei often loved joking about his Alzheimer’s with those around him, and his positive mindset was quite beneficial for slowing the progression of his condition.