Gan Guoyang’s dunk that drew a foul could be said to have dashed the Los Angeles Lakers’ hopes of clinching victory in the first game.
If they had been accurate with their three-pointers tonight and had a good shooting feel, there might have been a chance for a comeback in the final moments.
But the Lakers’ shooting performance in the game was too poor, repeatedly missing from the outside, leading to a cold touch throughout the team.
After Gan Guoyang made the free throw, the Glory Team insidiously began a two-minute hack-a-Shaq strategy.
Sending O’Neal to the free-throw line, he was highly likely to split the two free throws, or even miss both, thus wasting the Lakers’ chance to catch up.
Despair once again spread, with more and more people in the audience holding their heads, fans knowing that this game was likely to be harvested by Ah Gan again.
During the timeout, Gan Guoyang sat on the bench, watching the fans’ gloomy expressions and body language full of frustration, said to the young players on the bench, "See, this is the meaning of victory and the scene of victory, enjoy it, fellows."
The morale of the Glory Team was high, although they were the eighth seed, no one feared the top-seeded Lakers.
In the last few minutes, the Lakers executed the most intense full-court double-team defense.
In response, the Glory Team went with a three-guard lineup, willing to drag it to 24 seconds, avoiding reckless shots or passing mistakes, just to prevent giving the Lakers a chance to counterattack.
And because the Lakers pressed hard, their backcourt was left empty.
Gan Guoyang seized an opportunity, grabbed a defensive rebound, and made a long pass to the front court.
Van Exel caught the ball and easily laid it in, scoring his 26th point of the game.
This shot completely killed the Lakers’ hope of a comeback, nailing the first nail in their coffin.
Gan Guoyang had 47 points and 25 rebounds, a super huge double-double, still an invincible presence.
Helping the Glory Team to a 106:101, 5-point advantage, beating the Los Angeles Lakers on the road and securing the first game victory.
Having laid dormant, played dead for most of the season, Gan Guoyang showed his fangs again in the postseason.
However, this match took quite a toll on him, even though the playing time was not long, his usage rate was extremely high, and he made numerous shots, with a full effort on both offense and defense.
Most notably, tonight Gan Guoyang did not put his hands on his hips even once during the game, there was simply no chance.
At the end of the game, the Lakers players did not hug or shake hands with Gan Guoyang and went straight back to the locker room.
Gan Guoyang shook his head and said, "The local team is so impolite, that’s how they act after losing, really..."
Having won the first game, the Glory Team was naturally high in spirit.
During the post-game summary in the locker room, Gan Guoyang did not throw cold water on the team but said, "I think we can do even better."
Tomjanovich stated, "Securing a road victory, our task is complete, and we’ve gained a home advantage now."
Gan Guoyang shook his head and said, "No, we haven’t completed the task, our goal is to win both road games, to return to Las Vegas with a 2-0 series lead."
The originally joyful locker room quieted down quite a bit, was winning this game not enough?
"The so-called home-court advantage simply doesn’t exist in the NBA, forget about it. What we need to do is secure a lead as soon as possible. We are the underdogs, so we need to go for a swift victory; otherwise, we can’t drag it out against the Lakers."
Gan Guoyang’s judgment was identical to that of the 1987 Western Conference Finals.
At that time, the Trail Blazers were the defending champions, but the Lakers were in excellent form and strong that year.
They came back with a strong desire for revenge, determined to defeat the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals and reclaim the title of Western Conference king.
However, back then, Gan Guoyang embraced a fast-paced approach, erupting in the first two games in Los Angeles.
In the first game, he scored 48 points, and the Lakers thought, surely he won’t explode again in the next game, and we can win one back.
But in the second game, Gan Guoyang scored 51 points, once again breaking through the Lakers, causing Riley to be furious in that game.
Trailing 0-2 left the Lakers with no margin for error, even though they played better afterward, they still lost the series.
That series led to Pat Riley’s dismissal, and he then joined the Heat, beginning a career of seeking revenge against Gan Guoyang.
It was all sparked by Gan Guoyang’s god-like performance.
Tonight, his performance triggered a reactive response from the Lakers, especially from the old fans.
It’s said that after this game, Jack-Nicholson considered returning his tickets, no longer wanting to be a Lakers fan.
"If I had become an Ah Gan fan earlier, life would have been so much better, damn it," Nicholson later recalled.
But does Gan Guoyang still have the capability of scoring 47 points in one game and 50 in the next?
No one knows, not even Gan Guoyang himself, his confidence in his physical condition isn’t as strong as it used to be.
This has led to some of his strategic plans suffering from execution discounts, so he is also contemplating some different approaches for the second game.
After the first game between the Lakers and the Glory Team, the outcomes of other East-West matchups also gradually surfaced.
In the Western Conference, the Trail Blazers, Kings, and Mavericks, the other three top-half teams, all secured victories.
There’s no need to say it, the coaching staff of these three teams definitely had smiles wide as a Cheshire cat, seeing the Lakers being hammered in the first game, indicating the setup was quite successful.
On May 19th, the two teams took a day off, and on May 20th, the battle at the Staples Center reignited.
After a day of adjustment, it was clear that the Lakers players were feeling much better before the game compared to the first game.
At least during the warm-up, they were no longer lazy but actively dunking, laying up, sprinting, and everyone’s expression was very serious.