Both teams put a lot of effort into pre-game preparation, especially the Celtics, who made thorough preparations.
Bobby Berman would never have imagined that his players had each undergone targeted training and tactical arrangements for this series.
It wasn’t that Berman hadn’t prepared enough; rather, the likes of Duncan and Nash were wary of Gan as if he were a tiger and afraid that Berman’s preparations and command might falter.
Just as well, the guys got together to brainstorm some tricks and strategies, summing up past experiences of battling Ah Gan to prepare enough ammunition for the match.
Such foresight was undoubtedly wise; indeed, Berman could not bring all his wit to bear in front of Gan Guoyang.
Simply put, when playing against other opponents, Berman sometimes resorted to any means necessary, sending role players to harass the opposing main player or even engaging in some dirty moves or tricks.
Under Berman’s tutelage, Bruce Bowen was on the verge of becoming a reviled figure throughout the League.
He protected several core players well, using the tough and dirty frontline work as a perimeter, with everyone having a clear division of labor; morally controversial, but highly effective in games.
But when facing Ah Gan, it was no use; Berman did not dare to let his players harass Ah Gan at all. He even instructed Bowen, "Restrain yourself, play normally, and do not provoke Ah Gan."
This certainly had the sense of "Forrest Gump’s Law" to it, but how much of it was because Berman didn’t dare due to some shadow? Who can say for sure?
Anyway, when the Detroit Pistons were beaten in such a way back then, they stood their ground until the end, defeated by Ah Gan. In a current game, Ah Gan might have been ejected early on.
This was just part of it; there were other factors too. In short, whenever Berman faced Ah Gan, his strategy and spiritual power significantly decreased, and his tactical arrangements were considerably stifled, repeatedly being suppressed by Ah Gan in terms of speed and strategy.
In this year’s regular season, when Glory was doing so well, playing excellently, the Celtics’ players decided to use some of their own ideas and experiences, no longer blindly following Berman’s arrangements.
The results were great, winning 3 out of 4 games, one being a landslide victory due to a burst of hand feeling, and the other two won with ease, without following Berman’s game plan.
From that moment on, Nash, Duncan, and others knew they could rely on their own ideas and abilities to defeat Ah Gan.
Ah Gan was strong, Jordan was strong too, but so were the Celtics; what’s more, they were aged, and the Celtics were at their peak— in competitive sports, age is always the greatest advantage.
So, in this battle, the Celtics began with various details, technical and tactical ideas, clever strategies, taking Glory by surprise.
Although the gap in score didn’t widen, it was quite clear that the Celtics had the upper hand; they were taking the initiative, with a variety of changes, forcing Glory to frequently react.
Gan Guoyang’s pre-game prediction that "the Celtics will double-team him" wasn’t wrong, but this was only a small part of the Celtics’ tactical execution, and since Glory’s outside shooting was off, it didn’t have much effect.
It can’t be said that Gan Guoyang miscalculated, but he did have a feeling that his preparations and ideas fell short.
This was rare in Gan Guoyang’s career, as that sense of "losing control" seldom appeared in his emotions.
It’s like someone always walking on a wide, flat road, suddenly coming upon the edge of a cliff, the path narrows, with a sheer drop on one side and a steep fall on the other.
Such a feeling was both terrifying and exhilarating, and whether there’s a road ahead you still don’t know.
Gan Guoyang once really hated this feeling; he hated losing control, so he wanted to keep everything firmly in hand.
But this time, at 38 years old, the loss of control surprisingly and gradually excited him.
Jordan had the same idea, so they began unprecedentedly exchanging a large amount of communication during the match.
No longer passing the buck, arguing with each other, that was just joking around, now it was truly serious communication about the game situation.
The first quarter ended with a score of 21:20, the Celtics leading Glory by 1 point.
The core issue for Glory remained the lack of precision in outside shooting; under the Celtics’ defensive pressure, the already inaccurate three-point shooters became even less accurate.
Without threes, Glory’s main scoring methods turned into cuts under the basket and some mid-range twos, leading to a drop in scoring efficiency.
Moreover, the Celtics had excellent inside defensive resources; Duncan, Big Z, Vin Baker, were doing a great job protecting the basket.
The most critical point was that Gan Guoyang’s solo attacks could no longer penetrate the Celtics’ defense.
In the first quarter, he made 4 out of 7 shots, which was a pretty good offensive efficiency, but such output and efficiency weren’t enough to change the Celtics’ defense.
They managed to control Gan Guoyang’s offense simply with one-on-one defense and simple rotations and double teams, which was detrimental to Glory.
Gan Guoyang himself was well aware, but to conserve energy and prepare for the third and fourth quarters, he could only maintain this number of shots and shooting percentage.
And Jordan, in the latter part of the first quarter, failed to continue the offensive firepower as planned; on both offensive and defensive ends, he was repeatedly attacked and harassed by Pierce, Bowen, and Fox, causing him a lot of discomfort.
On defense, he also had to face Pierce’s attacks, so in the first quarter, Jordan’s performance was quite difficult, being suppressed on both offense and defense.
After the second quarter began, Jordan continued to play on the court. Before he went on, Gan Guoyang reminded him, "Make good use of your mid-range advantage, reduce holding the ball, increase off-ball running and screens, the tactical focus is over there with Andre."