Therefore, the Celtics are becoming less effective at restraining the Twin Towers, especially this season; during the regular season, the Celtics are no longer afraid to use the Twin Towers lineup.
Both free throws were made, and Beelman was a bit anxious; right from the start, they were charged by Ah Gan, and Ilgauskas already had a foul, which is really troublesome.
However, the Celtics players remained calm; Duncan held the ball in the low post, backing up Gan Guoyang, and his turnaround floater missed, Yao Ming grabbed the rebound.
Jordan initiated a fast break, dribbled into the paint, and his bank shot floater missed, Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound, turned and passed to the cutting-in Yao Ming, Yao Ming scored with a one-handed dunk!
Glory took the lead, Jordan gestured to the referee, indicating that Pierce had fouled, but the referee showed no response.
Pierce immediately used a between-the-legs crossover, followed by a pull-up jump shot which scored two points, and reminded Jordan: "Don’t blame the referee if you can’t score!"
Jordan was a bit angry, but Glory continued playing according to the established plan, Gan Guoyang received the ball in the low post, as expected, the Celtics began to double-team.
Bowen came over to interfere, Gan Guoyang immediately passed the ball to the middle, Yao Ming got the ball, transferred it to the left 45 degrees, then passed to the corner.
Gerald Wallace was open, but his three-point shot missed, Duncan secured the rebound, and the Celtics launched a counterattack.
The opportunity was there, and the Celtics indeed started to double-team Gan Guoyang, but if they can’t hit the outside shot, there’s really nothing to be done.
Next, the Celtics executed a very cunning strategy on offense, Duncan singled out Gan Guoyang from the left low post.
Duncan couldn’t move Ah Gan with strength, but Bowen actually came over to screen for Duncan, forcibly inserting himself between Duncan and Gan Guoyang, blocking Gan Guoyang; then Duncan turned, and banked a 45-degree jump shot which went in!
"What the hell, is this even allowed?" Gan Guoyang was shocked, what kind of move is this? Can they really screen like this?
Bowen blocked Gan Guoyang, making it impossible for him to close in on Duncan, and Gerald Wallace couldn’t reach Duncan either, he could only watch as Duncan made the shot.
Gan Guoyang thought, he really underestimated Bobby; this guy can come up with all sorts of moves to deal with him.
Yesterday when they had dinner together, could he have been pretending? Actually scheming against me?
Gan Guoyang, disregarding everything, moved from low to high position, setting a screen for Andre Miller, then received the ball, faked a top-of-the-arc move to pass to Yao Ming, but actually took a shot himself and scored another 2 points.
Early in the game, Gan Guoyang already got into the rhythm, and in dealing with the Twin Towers’ defense, competed with the Celtics in intelligence, drawing the Celtics’ defensive attention.
The Celtics played very cleverly on offense, with numerous small tactics emerging, aside from Bowen screening for Duncan in the low post, they also had Ilgauskas set a screen for Nash, blocking the defenders completely, providing Nash a wide-open shot opportunity.
These moves weren’t really used by the Celtics during the regular season games against Glory, making Gan Guoyang increasingly feel that Bobby held something back.
No, not holding something back, but holding several things back.
However, Gan Guoyang overestimated Beelman; these tactics weren’t arranged by Beelman, but devised by the Celtics players themselves.
It was Duncan, Nash, and others who, during training, came up with these little tricks, typically not used much or occasionally during games, just saved for critical games to deal with old hands like Ah Gan and Jordan.
Gan Guoyang couldn’t help but feel, these young players really have sharp minds; he thought he was good with details, never expecting young players to have such cunning tricks.
For example, to prevent Gan Guoyang from contending for an Offensive Rebound, Duncan chose a "face-to-face" box-out approach.
Typical box-out involves two players facing the basket, jostling around, in which case no one can out-jostle Ah Gan.
But Duncan didn’t go for the rebound, he directly faced Ah Gan, stared at him, with a hand on him, making Gan Guoyang feel uncomfortable all over.
Duncan even glanced around, pretending someone was behind to confuse Ah Gan, so how could he grab the rebound?
The two of them essentially neutralized each other for the rebound, neither would go for it, leaving the Celtics’ other players to secure the rebound.
Yao Ming was kept in check by Ilgauskas, the rebounds mainly went to Fox, Pierce, Bowen, and others.
Thus, Glory’s originally strong Offensive Rebound advantage was significantly diminished by the Celtics’ tactics.
In frustration, Gan Guoyang received the ball in the low post, used brute force to push off Duncan, and finished with a one-handed powerful dunk!
The score was tied at 9:9, with neither side’s strategic intent truly becoming evident yet.
Duncan quickly responded, turning in the left low post and hitting a difficult left-handed floater for two points.
Gan Guoyang moved to the high post, attracted the double team, then passed to the basket, Andre Miller, facing Duncan’s defense, did not take the shot, passed back out to the perimeter, where Jordan caught and missed a three-point attempt from the left 45 degrees.
The play was executed, but the shot didn’t go in, not only because of Jordan’s average three-point skills, but also due to the Celtics’ strong defensive confrontation wearing down and dulling the shooters’ touch.
Even though the Celtics actively doubled Gan Guoyang, they didn’t leave particularly big gaps, making it easy for the opponent to pass, catch, and shoot.
You have to be quick, have to run, there isn’t much time for preparation, with a slight delay, the Celtics’ defense will recover back to normal, and the opportunity will be fleeting.
This sense of pressure, along with fresh details, excited Gan Guoyang, heightening his concentration.