Pure offensive slaughter halted the Lakers.
Staples Center was filled with an uneasy atmosphere. Did Ah Gan penetrate through again?
How many more times do we have to endure such situations?
Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang returned to the bench, drinking big gulps of water, feeling dissatisfied.
I’ve played this well, shooting perfectly in the third quarter so far, yet we’re only leading by 8 points!
Gan Guoyang also knows he can’t make every shot; there will be misses eventually.
An 8-point lead, facing a team like the Lakers, is not stable.
The overall team strength is still somewhat lagging. Although the Radiant Players have performed well and the Lakers haven’t, it’s just a slight advantage for Radiant.
Gan Guoyang’s scoring solo, and his teammates couldn’t keep up the pace to launch a wave of attack.
O’Neal’s consistent output prevented the Lakers from trailing too far behind, always keeping their comeback chances alive.
Thus, Gan Guoyang can’t sit down yet; he has to stay on the court and continue to fight, holding the ground.
Over at the Lakers, Phil Jackson is able to stabilize the situation, despite Jack-Nicholson cursing madly as if he escaped from an asylum.
"We might not be able to go back to Los Angeles, not back to Los Angeles!"
"Being Black-balled, you’re fired Phil, you’re fired!"
Nicholson, always a die-hard Lakers fan, tends to be rational because he’s a star, after all, needing to maintain his basic image.
But tonight, with the match not even finished, Nicholson is clearly under stress, really worn out by Ah Gan.
From regular season to playoffs, from ordinary games to Christmas battles, to the Western Conference Finals, how many times has Ah Gan killed them?
Other spectators urged Nicholson not to be agitated, the game is far from over, with the series having just begun.
Nicholson finally calmed down a bit, but muttered in his exclusive seat: "It’s over, it’s over, this Sonny, impossible to beat. He’s already figured out how to kill us."
This guy might have acted too much, with a bit of drama king possession.
The pause ended, returning to the game, where the battle entered a fever pitch.
Gan Guoyang’s thought was indeed correct; he couldn’t score indefinitely. When he couldn’t score, Radiant’s offense came to a halt.
The Lakers’ defense was indeed quite formidable; the veterans finally entered a hundred percent state.
Tall and strong forwards and guards blocked Radiant’s passing and breakthrough paths, increasingly powerful physical confrontation, wearing down the shooting touch of the Radiant Players.
Young players make mistakes too easily. Gerald Wallace was fouled twice by Pippen, giving Pippen four free throws, and had to rest.
The little panther still has a long way to go, many things to learn.
Old Tang, as Lakers chased the score, daringly executed a three-guard play when just 2 points behind.
Terry Porter, Steve-Kerr, and Van Exel, this lineup’s perimeter defense is practically suicidal.
But Old Tang knew the offensive issues needed solving now, with Lakers’ strong and tight double-team consuming Ah Gan’s touch, someone had to step up to crack Lakers’ fierce double team.
Van Exel took the court, immediately raiding the basket, hitting a floater, pulling Radiant out of danger zone.
On defense, Radiant contacted the defense, gambling on Lakers missing their threes.
As it turned out, they really couldn’t sink them. Lakers’ three-point shooting was off all night.
Gan Guoyang firmly controlled the rebound, seizing a chance for a counterattack.
Ball-handling change of pace, then direction, using not-fast speed to cut into the basket, challenging O’Neal’s defense, drawing a foul on O’Neal!
O’Neal, called for a foul, stomped his feet in frustration, not thinking the referee was unfair, but that he shouldn’t have committed the foul.
Four fouls now (previous foul should be an error, corrected), with four minutes left in the third quarter, he could only sit down, which was highly unfavorable for Lakers.
Gan Guoyang stepped up to the free-throw line, taking deep breaths to adjust muscle state and shooting feel.
Both free throws hit, 75:69, the lead gap extended back to 6 points.
Seeing Gan Guoyang’s both hits, Nicholson below grabbed his hair and said: "Finished, he found his touch again! His form’s back again!"
Nicholson, not surprisingly a Lakers fan tormented by Gan Guoyang for many years, grasped his rhythm and state direction very accurately.
With O’Neal off-court, Lakers played more outside, Tracy McGrady broke through and scored at the rim, finally getting a basket.
But Gan Guoyang immediately responded with a mid-range shot at a 45-degree angle, hitting!
Lakers truly cursed by the shooting, the three-guard spacing completely spread out, Lakers’ double team very hesitant.
Next, on offense, Tracy McGrady got double-teamed by Gan Guoyang, the ball hitting his foot rolling out of bounds, a turnover.
Gan Guoyang caught the ball left side at 45 degrees, a shooting fake, shook off the double team, went to the baseline, bounced pass to Brad Miller, Miller caught it and scored with an easy layup.
"Finished, starting to pass now, shooting and passing, you don’t know what to do. Because whether you guard his shot or his pass, he’ll choose the other and crush you with it! This is Ah Gan’s unfair guessing game! Is the thing in the left hand or the right? Sorry, always in the hand you don’t guess! You know this, but you must guess and must fail! Xie Te!"
Nicholson muttered loudly, venting his inner anger and dissatisfaction.
Actually, this is quite good, venting and expressing it, then when the game ends it’ll get better.
If accidentally winning, could be very happy.