On the rooftop helicopter platform, a helicopter bearing the "Tr-ump" logo was on standby, the wind pressure from the spinning rotor made Gan Guoyang's suit and hair flutter, and team owner Tang Jianguo opened the cabin door, having been waiting for some time.
"Sonny! Will you make it tonight?"
"If everything goes smoothly, I can catch the second half! Fack, almost got disrupted by that Cox guy."
"Hahaha, this time he'll suffer, won't be able to get out of bed for two days."
As it turned out, Gan Guoyang and Tang Jianguo bribed an assistant to swap one of Cox's daily meds with a laxative, precisely timed to be a slow-release capsule before two-thirty.
This disrupted Cox's plan to delay with a lengthy speech; after all, no hero can withstand three bouts of diarrhea, and Cox didn't want to embarrass himself on stage and ruin his election chances.
With no choice, Cox had to end his speech early and rush to the bathroom, bringing the event to a halt.
Gan Guoyang and Tang Jianguo laughed heartily, as the helicopter swiftly headed to New York Airport, where Gan Guoyang's private plane was already on standby.
Everything was seamlessly connected, and the weather in New York and Minnesota was favorable that evening, allowing the plane to quickly take off toward Minneapolis.
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On the night of the 2nd at seven o'clock, the fourth match between the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves began at the Target Center.
Before the game started, Rick Carlisle was holding a card, pondering when exactly he should open it.
Charles Barkley was the starting power forward for the Trail Blazers. He wore a determined face as he hoped to make a decisive impact in this game.
But Barkley was already 36, averaging 13 points per game this season, no longer the dominating Flying Pig Tank under the basket.
Even with the mindset and skills of a superstar, his physical disadvantage caused his initial performance not to be great.
Three consecutive missed attacks under the basket instead gave the Timberwolves opportunities for quick counterattacks.
In this series, Stephon Marbury became the most crucial offensive engine for the Timberwolves.
His speed and explosiveness, and his ability to finish in counterattacks, have caused great trouble for the Trail Blazers.
Brellock's decline this season made him struggle against Marbury, a player teeming with explosiveness.
Carlisle tried to have Kobe deal with Marbury, but Kobe had more important tasks on the offense.
In short, without Gan Guoyang, allocating Trail Blazers' resources was a massive challenge.
Carlisle had many players to use, but each seemed to have unbearable shortcomings.
Too old, too slow, too unstable, poor free throws—but for a rookie coach, this was truly hell-level difficulty in allocation.
Ensuring their strengths are displayed while their weaknesses are concealed is tough, not something a coach alone can do.
The best person to handle all this would be Ah Gan, who could cover each player's deficiencies even at 36, though not as mighty as before.
He's been doing it for over ten years, and no one does it better than him, but he's not here tonight.
At their home court, the Timberwolves dominated at the Target Center. Kevin Garnett roared after every block or disruption of opponent's attack.
Though no one knew what he was yelling, since the ball was still with the Trail Blazers, and some plays fouled resulting in free throws, he just wanted to shout.
The atmosphere at the scene was stirred, gradually giving the Timberwolves the advantage on the court, leading the Trail Blazers by 4 points in the first quarter.
Entering the second quarter, without Gan Guoyang leading the charge, the Trail Blazers became increasingly chaotic, repeatedly missing their outside shots, unable to catch up.
Luckily, Trail Blazers' defense held tight, preventing the Timberwolves from widening the gap; at halftime, the teams were at 43:48, with Timberwolves leading by 5.
43 points at halftime was uncharacteristic of the Trail Blazers' firepower, but many possessions ended in forced shots.
Kevin Garnett delivered a strong defensive performance tonight, although his offense was lacking, otherwise the Timberwolves could have led more.
During halftime in the locker room, Rick Carlisle was anxious. Falling behind by 5 points seemed manageable, but with Trail Blazers' weakened firepower, sustaining it seemed difficult.
With the card in hand, Carlisle held back from opening it, until the third quarter when Timberwolves extended their lead to 10 points through Marbury's fierce drives and audacious three-point shots, letting him know they couldn't hold on.
He called a timeout, opened the sweat-soaked card, which read: "Hold on, wait for me."
Carlisle angrily muttered "Xie Te!"
What kind of masterstroke is this?
When the hell are you coming back...
As Carlisle muttered, head aching over not knowing what strategy to set during the timeout, a commotion erupted across the court.
The scene Timberwolves fans least wanted appeared: Gan Guoyang, wearing the number 11 jersey, jogged onto the court toward the Trail Blazers' bench.
Many people began to hold their heads, while a small number of Trail Blazers fans wearing Gan Guoyang jerseys started cheering, and countless fans in front of TVs began tuning in again.
Viewership ratings surged once more.
Gan Guoyang arrived at the bench, glanced at the score, then at his teammates with slightly bewildered eyes.
"Ladies, I'm late. Damn, only 10 points behind, you made my race against time a lot less legendary!"
Carlisle could clearly sense that when Gan Guoyang appeared, the entire arena's atmosphere and the team's morale underwent a profound shift.
Including himself, every Trail Blazers player was refreshed, while a dark cloud seemed to hover over the Timberwolves.
The timeout ended quickly, and Carlisle said nothing, made no arrangements, but simply made a substitution decision.
Gan Guoyang suited up, and though he'd been rushing for nearly four hours, he managed to catch the game, ready to decide the series tonight.