Back on their home floor, the Glory came out with soaring morale, and Jordan’s dunks completely ignited the crowd’s passion.
Up to now, ever since the team was founded, tickets for every Las Vegas Radiance home game have been sold out; not a single empty seat, only added seating, including in the playoffs.
Gan Guoyang also maintains an astonishing record: in his entire NBA career, every home game has been a full house, without a single exception.
Duncan once again posts up low against Yao Ming, and Yao’s massive frame and height clearly make Duncan uncomfortable; the turnaround, step-back 45-degree bank shot still doesn’t go.
Gan Guoyang grabs the rebound, gives it to Jordan. Jordan doesn’t rush the fast break—the Radiance’s game plan before the game was to slow the tempo; the Glory can’t out-run the Celtics.
They settle into the half court. Under the basket Gan Guoyang muscles Duncan out of position, Jordan lobs it high inside, Gan Guoyang catches, turns, and slams it home with both hands!
They open 6–0. For this situation, Bobby Berman was mentally prepared long ago: up 2–0 coming into Game 3, there’s a high chance you get pounded early by the home team.
The key is whether you can weather it and adjust afterward. Paul Pierce handles the ball on the perimeter, going one-on-one against Jordan.
Jordan gives up the middle lane for Pierce to drive. Pierce glances around—Ah Gan is lurking nearby. That’s a major change in the Glory’s defensive scheme.
The interior and low post are left entirely to Yao Ming, while Ah Gan comes up top to help Jordan and Miller defend. This is undoubtedly a huge challenge to the Celtics’ perimeter offense.
Hesitating, Pierce knows he’s already lost the initiative and passes it down low for Duncan to go one-on-one. Duncan’s touch is off; he kicks it out, middle of the floor to Big Z.
But Gan Guoyang isn’t Yao Ming; he won’t just stand there and watch Big Z deal cards from the top of the arc. The moment Big Z hesitates, Gan Guoyang quickly swipes in for the steal.
His "hand-knife" chops the ball out of Big Z’s hands. Players scramble into a pile, but Gan Guoyang’s faster and stronger; he secures the ball and dishes to Miller, Miller then hits Jordan streaking out on the break.
Jordan flies in for a second fast-break gliding dunk!
The guy wasn’t kidding—he really doesn’t miss; it’s all dunks.
The Glory open by smacking the Celtics with an 8–0 run; Berman has to call a timeout.
CBS, through the replay, breaks down the changes in the Glory’s defense.
Yao Ming stays deeper, Gan Guoyang moves up top, unleashing Gan Guoyang’s defensive potential.
The perimeter defense is more targeted, with less zone and a return to a more aggressive man-to-man, face-guarding style.
By comparison, the Celtics’ defensive rotations are still solid, but the Glory are playing with such fearless decisiveness that Boston’s defense isn’t having its usual effect.
Out of the timeout, Berman adjusts the tactics. Nash initiates, Duncan comes out to set the pick, Nash kicks to Pierce at the top; Pierce puts the ball on the floor, drives, then swings it to Bruce Bowen in the right corner. Bowen catches and decisively fires the three—good!
Bowen’s three-point stroke still feels great. In the 2002–2003 season, Bruce Bowen led the entire League in three-point percentage: 44.1%, which is downright scary. So far in the playoffs his three-point percentage is up to 45%; you could say this is the best form of his career.
On defense, Bowen locks onto Jordan, while Jordan roams the weak side, hunting for chances.
Strong side, Gan Guoyang and Yao Ming both pop out, clearing the low post and continuing to create back-to-the-basket mismatch opportunities for Andre Miller against Nash.
Miller cuts into the lane, Duncan slides over to help. In that tight seam, Miller slips the ball to Yao Ming, but Yao doesn’t shoot it himself; instead he swings it to Jordan on the weak side.
Beyond the arc, Jordan lets it fly—again it’s good! A three-pointer from Michael Jordan.
This time Gan Guoyang is convinced: even the threes are dropping. When he said he wouldn’t miss, he meant it.
On the Celtics’ side, Pierce goes at Jordan one-on-one and misses the jumper; Yao Ming pulls down the board.
Berman is getting a bit agitated. All those little details and clever tricks from the first two games have stopped working.
That’s the NBA stage: a lot of tricks you can only use once; run them again and they stop working—especially the unconventional stuff.
Take things like low-post pick-and-roll actions—now the Radiant Players will just body up and not let you get away with that.
That’s also where the NBA playoffs temper people: relying on some unconventional crafty wrinkles can win you a game or two, but to win four, you need real hard power.
Andre Miller backs Nash down hard at the top, and the Glory are clearly determined to press this advantage to the fullest, constantly putting pressure on Nash.
He muscles in, the Celtics’ defense collapses toward Miller, and Miller suddenly spins and threads a straight pass to the rim. Gan Guoyang catches, Big Z and Duncan both converge, but Gan Guoyang, like he’s playing volleyball, instantly slaps the ball over to Yao Ming on the other side. Yao catches and hammers it in with a powerful two-hand dunk!
After the bucket, the two slap hands—beautiful teamwork. This kind of approach from the Glory is clearly targeting the weak spots in the Celtics’ defensive shell.
They have to find a way to hide Nash, or else Nash has to contribute enough on offense to offset the defensive holes.
However, on the very next possession, after the pick-and-roll, Nash is swarmed by a fully engaged Jordan. Jordan uses precise swipes and full-body contact to knock the ball right out of Nash’s hands—a rare sight.
Both of them hit the deck scrambling, Yao Ming, Duncan, and Ah Gan also dive in. In the chaos, the ref whistles Jordan for a foul and awards the ball to the Celtics.
But the crowd erupts in applause and cheers; the Glory Team needs this kind of aggressive defense and all-out hustle to regain their feel for the game and drag the momentum of the series back to their side.