Van Exel at least dares to step up and dares to shoot, but he’s even more daring when it comes to missing.
Those two threes in the third quarter got him a little too high, and in the fourth he went off-script, forcing up two threes of his own and bricking both.
That’s the thing about a double-edged sword—Glory got seized on by the Celtics in transition, who went on a 6–0 run and blew the lead back out to double digits.
Tomjanovich had no choice but to call a timeout; Jordan checked back in first, while Gan Guoyang still had to rest—he’d played the entire third quarter, and at the start of the fourth he had to sit at least four minutes.
Once Jordan returned, he immediately attacked the rim for a layup and two points; you could see he was gassed, his burst wasn’t there, he was relying on craft and physicality.
His shoulders were heaving, breathing hard; both gods’ rhythms were completely off tonight.
They finally toughed it out to when Gan Guoyang reentered; the score was 80–71, Glory still down by 9.
The Gan + Jordan pick-and-roll finally started to show its power; first Gan Guoyang pulled up from the top of the arc for three and buried it, tightening Beelman’s asshole on the spot.
Because that’s often the omen that Ah Gan is about to start cranking it up and lead a run.
Sure enough, Yao Ming rejected Pierce’s layup on the defensive end.
Pick-and-roll at the 45, Jordan slashed straight to the rim and hammered it home!
The lead was cut to 4; Nash stepped up, launched from outside, and drilled the three!
A huge three to maintain the cushion, and again it was the Ah Gan and Jordan pick-and-roll.
This time the Celtics sent three to trap and swarm; Gan Guoyang caught the ball and fired a straight pass to the paint—Yao Ming with the slam!
Their pick-and-roll chemistry was still essentially unguardable in crunch time; if Jordan’s touch hadn’t been so awful earlier, their P&R should’ve been wreaking havoc a lot sooner.
But the Celtics immediately switched into a zone, using a 3–2 to load up their defense and specifically target Ah Gan and Jordan’s pick-and-roll.
The downside of that look is the corners get left open, but Rajah Bell and Van Exel kept clanking those corner and wing threes, wasting those chances for nothing.
The Celtics had clearly locked onto Glory’s cold outside shooting as the issue tonight; Beelman was flat-out gambling—how can you not gamble when you’re defending Ah Gan + Jordan?
In the end the Celtics’ gamble paid off—two missed threes gave them breathing room and transition opportunities; Pierce finished a layup, and Nash hit another three!
The Celtics’ offense was humming tonight, too; they nailed the clutch shots, and the entire Fleet Center went absolutely berserk.
With one minute left in the game, Duncan caught it, turned, and knocked down the jumper, making it 91–80—the Celtics up 11 on Glory!
That bucket going down meant Glory really didn’t have many chances left; Gan Guoyang isn’t the type to live and die by gambling on threes, but at this point all he could do was fire from deep and gamble on defense.
He went 2-for-3, making the home crowd break out in a cold sweat; Auerbach had already taken the cigar out of his pocket, then put it back—he understood how terrifying Ah Gan and Jordan were.
Unfortunately, cramming at the last minute and just chucking threes is rarely how miracles happen; the Celtics were the better team tonight.
When the final buzzer sounded, the score froze at 93–88; the Celtics beat Glory by 5 and took Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals!
Auerbach could finally take out his victory cigar and clamp it between his teeth; his doctors had already forbidden him to smoke, and the arena was non-smoking, but he still had to pull it out and show off.
The Celtics went up 1–0 in the series; they showcased the power of a defending champion and cast a thick shadow over Ah Gan and Jordan’s playoff path.
Because two days later, on the same floor, in a different fashion, the Celtics’ tidal-wave offense drowned Glory—115–107—and they seized a commanding 2–0 lead in the series.
Bobby Berman realized that the opportunity to beat Ah Gan was right in front of him!