Next, the Celtics swung the ball continuously around the perimeter from right to left, running through all the pick-and-rolls, cuts, and screens.
In the end no opportunity appeared; when it went from Bowen back to Pierce, they actually turned it over again.
In the first two games, including the first half tonight, Beelman had been extremely restrained and chose to trust his players, but now he finally couldn’t hold it in.
Ever since he came to the Celtics, he had cut out most of his habit of cursing like a sailor.
He was getting older, showed more respect for his players; kids these days have strong self-respect, too much cussing and too harsh sounds bad.
But the Celtics had 9 turnovers in the first half tonight, and they’d already committed 2 more as soon as the second half started—11 turnovers already!
They were about to have more turnovers than assists; was this really the same Celtics who had been smashing Glory in the first two games?
"Fack, what the hell are you bunch of XXX doing! Turnovers, more damn turnovers! I..."
Beelman’s temperature was rising, though he was still relatively restrained, using more everyday swear words; the rare ones hadn’t even come out yet.
Gan Guoyang posted up low again; the Celtics sent a double-team, Gan kicked it out to Jordan, Jordan drove with the ball, then passed it back to Gan cutting out; Gan caught it and knocked down a mid-range jumper.
It was an easy, relaxed bucket; hearing Beelman cursing, Gan Guoyang couldn’t help saying as he passed by: "Bobby, you’re a lot less fiery than before."
"I’ve still got more than enough to take out a punk like you!"
Under Beelman’s yelling, Duncan finally scored one in the low post.
Then the Celtics managed to draw an offensive foul on Miller on defense, and with frequent, ferocious traps, they temporarily contained Gan Guoyang’s offensive firepower.
Only, the Celtics were cutting into the lead very slowly; the more patient and complicated they played on offense, the less they got out of it.
The Celtics players really were much more mature than in the past, had accumulated a lot of experience, and their mindset on the floor was excellent.
With turnovers piling up and both offense and defense sputtering, the players didn’t get anxious; Duncan’s face didn’t show a hint of emotion, same as when they were winning.
They still followed the coach’s instructions and what they’d practiced, working hard to solve problems and patch the holes.
That was a good thing, but from another angle, it was also bad.
Because basketball games aren’t purely rational; there’s a lot in them that’s beyond rationality, that doesn’t make sense on paper.
On some possessions the Celtics played things too fine, wanting too badly to create a "perfect" look before attacking, and ended up missing chances instead.
Tonight Glory had clearly laid out a Hongmen feast: the whole arena is my territory, everyone up and down the roster is in great form, and you still want to kill me by the book, one step at a time?
If Duncan or Nash could just step out and say, screw it, I’ll shoot it myself, I’m just going to make them; basketball is a game of scoring, I just need to score more than you.
Get their rhythm going, unleash a heavy barrage, play themselves into a groove and feel—then maybe this game actually had hope.
But the way they were now, methodically plugging holes by the book, they were really just pushing their hopes off to Game 5.
And who knows what Game 5 will look like; who can truly grasp it, predict it?
Pierce was the first one to wake up and realize how serious the problem was.
Midway through the third quarter, Glory kept the lead at around 15 points, and both teams were playing at a lukewarm pace.
Whenever the Celtics scored a few points, Ah Gan would immediately answer with a few of his own, firmly pressing the Celtics down.
If it kept going like this, it would be very hard for the Celtics to come back in this one.
So during a timeout, Pierce was on the bench, drinking Gatorade with a towel over his shoulders, and shouted in his raspy voice: "We gotta score, we gotta keep scoring and outscore them. Give me the ball, I’ll solve this! Before the fourth quarter starts, we have to cut the lead to under 10, then we’ve got a shot, we can take this, we can go up 3–0! Why wait till the next game, or the one after that! Now, it’s right now!"
Pierce’s words were highly motivating, and Beelman agreed with him, deciding to put the offensive burden on Pierce’s shoulders.
Paul Pierce really was a very gutsy player; after the 2000 Finals ended, even though they lost the title, second-year Pierce was already gaining some name recognition across All-America.
In September, before the new season’s training camp, he went to a bar with friends; while dancing with a woman, he angered some gang members and was attacked by more than a dozen people.
No matter how big and strong Pierce was, he was still flesh and blood, not Superman; he not only had his face slashed by a glass bottle, he was stabbed 11 times, one of which punctured a lung and came within 0.25 centimeters of his heart—almost killing him on the spot.
He was rushed to the hospital; doctors said if he had arrived 15 minutes later, Pierce would have died.
After suffering such injuries, Pierce stayed in the hospital only three days before being discharged to rest; 18 days later he was back on the practice court, and 40 days later he played in the 2000–01 season opener, then appeared in all 82 regular-season games.
That’s why people say NBA players all have freakish physical gifts, and All-Stars are full-on monsters; otherwise there’s no way to survive in this League.
Of course, this incident also left a deep psychological shadow on Pierce; for a period, he needed to wear a bulletproof vest and bring bodyguards when he went out.
Correspondingly, his on-court performance became more and more mature and steady, showing a real leader’s presence; he played a key role in the 2002 Finals.
Out of the timeout and back in the game, Pierce used a perimeter pick-and-roll to blow by his man, pulled up at the top of the arc, and drilled a jumper for two.
Gan Guoyang orchestrated from the high post, gave a fake pass to Yao Ming; Yao didn’t catch it but instead cut away, and Gan accelerated straight into the lane for a dunk!
The Celtics inbounded quickly from the backcourt; Pierce dribbled over half, backed down Jordan, spun into the lane for a layup, drew a foul on Yao Ming, and sank both free throws.
Seeing this, Porter knew the Celtics had shifted into an isolation-heavy style, with Pierce stepping up to carry the offense.
He decisively signaled with his assistants for a timeout to adjust their defensive strategy.
Porter’s reactions were still quick; his feel for the game was very experienced.
After a short timeout, they switched up the defense to a zone, testing the Celtics’ atrocious three-point shooting tonight.
This move really hit the mark; Pierce immediately felt a bit uncomfortable, unable to find driving lanes.
The ball went to Bowen in the right corner; Bowen hadn’t scored in a long while, put up a three, the ball circled the rim and popped out.
Duncan grabbed the Offensive Rebound, turned and shot but still missed; Gan Guoyang hauled down the board and brought it up himself.
Beelman had worked with Ah Gan for so many years; how could he not know Ah Gan’s rhythm?
He shouted from the sideline: "Stay with him! Stay with him! Stay with Ah Gan!"
But it was no use; Gan Guoyang suddenly exploded with the ball down the middle, drove into the lane, and hammered a one-handed dunk!
In this quarter, Gan Guoyang had quietly put up 14 points already, nailing the lead firmly above 15.
Against the zone, Pierce also tried to adjust his decision-making; Duncan and Big Z both stepped out to clear space for Pierce to attack the lane.
On one strong drive, Pierce bumped Jordan aside, took a long three-step into the paint, the rim right in front of him—only to have Gan Guoyang, rotating over from behind, smack his shot into the stands!
The ball bounced off the backboard; Duncan seized the chance, grabbed it, and charged in to dunk, but Gan Guoyang gathered himself and blocked him a second time, stuffing Duncan’s shot straight down from the front!
The old man was suddenly feeling young again; once more he’d taken on two men by himself—Gan Guoyang was really unleashing every bit of energy he had.
If this were before, he might have joined the fast break, but this time, after the block, he controlled the ball and just handed it off to a teammate.
Then he watched Jordan, Miller, and Gerald Wallace sprint upcourt, while he stayed where he was, hands on hips, watching them pull farther and farther away.
Jordan caught the ball, drove to the rim, and dished to Wallace filling on the right side; Wallace rose up for a one-handed dunk!
The MGM Center exploded! The Celtics were finally close to collapsing; Pierce and Duncan struggled to climb this mountain.
Gan Guoyang raised both arms high; he’d left all his energy on defense rather than joining the fast break.
That play was what gradually stripped the Celtics of their belief and hope in a comeback, and in the fourth quarter that followed, they never mounted another effective counterattack.
In the end, Glory blew out the Boston Celtics 110–88 by 22 points at home, trimming the series deficit to 1–2.
Jordan finished with 33 points, Gan Guoyang had 27, Yao Ming 15, and Miller 13—the four of them scored as many points as the entire Celtics team.
What Beelman didn’t expect was that two days later, on the same floor, Ah Gan and Jordan went off for 45 and 43 points respectively, using an unparalleled two-man scoring show to shatter the Celtics again.
Just as he had anticipated, the series was tied 2–2, heading into the pivotal Game 5 that would decide the direction of the series, with both teams returning to Boston.