Van Gundy took out the last card he had placed in his suit pocket, on which he had noted his final strategy before the game:
"If we really can’t win, provoke Ah Gan, let him beat you up, and get Ah Gan ejected..."
After reading it, Van Gundy himself was speechless, realizing it was the nonsense he had written in the brain-dead state from preparing for the finals a few days ago.
Putting the card back into his pocket, Van Gundy said some empty words to the players, merely encouraging everyone to boost their spirits and improve their defense.
But looking at the score difference, 96:79, it was indeed too wide, and the Knicks barely had hope.
After a round of ineffective adjustments, the timeout concluded, and on the other side, Gan Guoyang took off his warm-up jacket and re-entered the game.
Van Gundy looked at his players’ somewhat fatigued expressions; was tonight’s game going to be lost like this? Was Ah Gan going to be the hero of the game again?
A sinister thought suddenly flashed in Van Gundy’s mind; he took out the card he had put back into his suit pocket and stared at the joke written at the end.
"Perhaps we won’t win tonight, but there is still the second game, the third game, the fourth game..."
Van Gundy felt his blood rushing; knowing Ah Gan’s temper and past finals history, he felt anything could happen.
Should he sacrifice himself and take a gamble? This might be the best chance, perhaps the only chance in his coaching career?
Van Gundy also thought about the recent espionage rumors surrounding Gan Guoyang; maybe he should do something as an American?
After hesitating for a minute, Van Gundy moved to the sideline closer to the court, where both sides were engaged in an intense confrontation.
In the finals, the Knicks players certainly wouldn’t give up easily, and the experienced Trail Blazers wouldn’t slack off either.
Gan Guoyang returned to his normal defensive form, assisting his teammates on offense and defending the basket ferociously on defense.
Unless the Knicks went crazy with threes, a 17-point gap seemed impossible to close within one quarter given their offensive rhythm.
Gan Guoyang focused intensely, protecting the basket, grabbing rebounds, watching the game closely, and listening intently to every detail on the court.
As he played, he faintly sensed a noise constantly echoing in his ears, growing louder whenever he passed the Knicks’ bench.
Finally, during a dead-ball situation, he noticed Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy, this bald little guy, furiously spewing trash talk at him...
"You spy, you shouldn’t be staying in America! Go back to your hometown! You fraud, deceiving your way to this point; all lies about you will collapse, you’ll be disgraced, Sonny! You’ll become the biggest joke in sports history!"
Gan Guoyang looked at Van Gundy, feeling he was somewhat crazy.
Not only Gan Guoyang felt this way, but also the head referee, Knicks players, and assistant coaches all stared at him with astonished eyes.
Bavetta came over to warn Van Gundy, "Stop talking like that, Jeff. This isn’t what we discuss on the basketball court."
Van Gundy restrained himself a bit, but his eyes still showed provocation towards Gan Guoyang, as if he had completely forgotten the lesson Gan Guoyang taught him in the regular season.
Of course, Van Gundy was already prepared; he was ready for Gan Guoyang to knock him down with a punch.
Would he get beaten to death? Who knows, with his thin frame, it might actually happen.
But he couldn’t care less now; Van Gundy resolutely made up his mind, even if he got beaten to death, he wanted to pull Ah Gan down from his pedestal!
In the next few minutes, the Trail Blazers kept a lead of over 15 points; they played more relaxed while the Knicks seemingly ran out of steam.
Van Gundy was the most aggressive, constantly trash-talking Gan Guoyang.
Mourning, Kemp, and others were astonished, "Coach, seriously, you’re seeking trouble?"
Stay away from him; you don’t want to get splattered with blood.
However, the violent scene didn’t occur.
Throughout the game, Gan Guoyang never spared another glance at Van Gundy.
With 2 minutes left, the score difference remained at 17 points.
Van Gundy’s mouth was dry from shouting; he knew the game was lost and could only substitute the main players to concede defeat.
On the Trail Blazers’ side, Bird also replaced Gan Guoyang, Sabonis, and Kobe as the outcome was decided.
Gan Guoyang then passed by the Knicks bench, glancing down at Van Gundy, who had turned into Mad Dave in the fourth quarter.
"Jeff, I’ve already forgiven you."
With this, Gan Guoyang left, leaving Van Gundy with the towering figure of No. 11.
Van Gundy felt deflated, tapping his head, realizing it was foolish to come up with such a ridiculous plan.
In the first game, the Trail Blazers beat the Knicks with a large score difference, but despite appearances, the game wasn’t easy, and the Knicks performed quite well.
Two days later, the second game between the Trail Blazers and the Knicks continued at the Rose Garden, with rumors about Gan Guoyang gradually fermenting.
But neither side could produce strong evidence connecting Gan Guoyang’s actions to espionage, and Washington remained silent, leaving people puzzled.
The finals proceeded normally and before the game started, Van Gundy specially apologized to Gan Guoyang, feeling deeply sorry for his reckless remarks.
Gan Guoyang smiled and nodded, saying, "I said, I’ve already forgiven you."
In this game, the Knicks made many adjustments, but their results were disappointing, such as increasing three-point shooting, which resulted in poor performance.
The Knicks fell into an offensive slump, scoring only 15 points in the first quarter and 34 by halftime, mainly relying on Spree to drive the attack, while the inside Kemp and Mourning were tightly suppressed.
The Trail Blazers, playing normally, maintained a steady 10-point lead, and with the Knicks’ poor offense, a 10-point gap was like a chasm.
Ultimately, the Trail Blazers won 90:82 in a low-scoring game, leading the series 2-0 and getting closer to another championship.
The Knicks’ defense wasn’t an issue, and their roster was quite impressive as they managed to limit the Trail Blazers to 90 points.
But their offense was insufficient, especially the outside, increasingly relying on Spree as the sole play-maker, which was too demanding.
Kemp and Mourning were thoroughly dominated by Gan Guoyang; over two games, Mourning scored 13 in one and 12 in another, while Kemp managed 8 and then 11 points.
Their scoring dipped sharply compared to the regular season and previous series, causing the Knicks to rely more on Spree and Houston from outside.
The Trail Blazers let the two of them shoot, knowing even they couldn’t defeat them, and the Knicks lacked a heavyweight point guard to control the offense.
Leading 2-0, Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers headed to New York, and he could finally visit the Twin Towers.