Sabonis was usually low-key in the Trail Blazers Team, always flashing a smile and being kind to everyone.
He disliked caras, reporters, and interviews, always silently playing gas, training, and going ho after work.
Including Gan Guoyang, no one expected that Sabonis would deliver such a blow to Ewing.
This was originally Gan Guoyang’s trick against McDaniel during the 1986-1987 regular season’s first ga, where he headbutted X-man, knocking him out.
As Ewing fell, the Knicks players quickly surrounded the scene.
Charles Oakley was the first to rush forward, aiming to grab Sabonis by the collar.
Gan Guoyang did not rush forward imdiately, not because he was disloyal, but because he was afraid of being sucker-punched.
During his rookie season, when he tried to break up a fight in a Rockets ga, he was inexplicably punched and still couldn’t figure out who had hit him.
That punch made Gan Guoyang cautious about breaking up fights, trying to stay away from crowded places.
Gan Guoyang went over to help Ewing up, as after all they were good friends, and it was clear Ewing had been hit hard.
Sabonis, with one swift motion, shook off Oakley’s hand. Sabonis’s strength was astonishing, making Oakley reconsider if he could actually win a fight against him.
Now with three referees in NBA gas, their control over the ga was stronger. The head referee, Jess Kersey, ca over and separated Oakley and Sabonis, preventing further conflict.
Ewing had already been pulled up by Gan Guoyang. The headbutt was indeed harsh; he felt dizzy and staggered a bit.
He wanted to confront Sabonis, but Ah Gan held him back. It was better to let it go, considering that Ah Gan would definitely side with his teammate.
Eventually, in the middle of the third quarter, Sabonis was ejected from the ga for headbutting Ewing, a situation identical to what happened in 1986.
No one else threw a punch except you, so of course you would be ejected.
When Sabonis left the court, the fans in the stadium responded with enthusiastic applause.
Those who dare to take brave actions on the basketball court are always respected—though hitting others is wrong.
Sabonis’s headbutt was perfectly executed, striking Ewing’s chin, stunning without injuring the brain.
After a slight adjustnt, Ewing was able to continue playing.
At this ti, the Knicks were trailing the Trail Blazers by 5 points, 67:72, but the ga was still on.
After Sabonis was ejected, Beelman put Divac in.
Ewing figured out that Beelman was using him to practice.
Two Eastern European centers alternately marking him, just not letting Ah Gan co.
Ewing was unreserved, first blocking Divac’s jump shot in the defensive end.
Then on the offensive end, he spun and made a successful jump shot from the baseline, narrowing the score to 69:72, just 3 points behind.
The recent conflict between Sabonis and Ewing heightened the intensity of the confrontation between the teams.
The shooting percentage of role players was falling, and it was ti for the stars to decide the ga’s montum.
Gan Guoyang received the ball in the low post, and when the Knicks quickly triple-tead him, he passed the ball out to the periter.
Terry Porter drove to the basket with the ball, Ewing fiercely interfered, and the throw didn’t score, but Gan Guoyang grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on a putback.
The score difference remained 5 points.
The Knicks tried to speed up the ga’s rhythm, using sharp offense to catch up with the score.
anwhile, the Trail Blazers slowed the pace, starting to let every ball pass through Gan Guoyang’s hands.
With Sabonis out, Gan Guoyang went back to the low post, Oakley couldn’t guard Ah Gan one-on-one.
Gan Guoyang spun at the baseline and headed for the basket, Ewing ca over to block, but Gan Guoyang suddenly unleashed a left-hand hook shot and scored two points.
Now, Gan Guoyang seldom used the hook shot in the gas, as with the change in NBA ga pace, the hook shot seed out of sync.
In so critical monts, however, Gan Guoyang would still use this special skill, catching his opponents off-guard.
Most centers in that position, either shoot directly or go for a layup, both would be blocked by Ewing.
But Gan Guoyang’s hook shot left Ewing helpless, having to watch the ball sink into the net.
From that shot, Ewing knew that Ah Gan was handling things easily, holding back his strength.
Since the ga started, Gan Guoyang hadn’t co over for help defense or double-teaming.
Every sumr, Gan Guoyang took ti to train in New York for a while, with Ewing handling the accommodations and als.
Ewing would train with Ah Gan for a few days, not long, just a few days, as he knew the intensity of Ah Gan’s training would be too much for longer periods.
Whether Ah Gan was giving his all, Ewing knew it best; he knew he wasn’t a match for Ah Gan, but he still wouldn’t admit defeat.
Back on offense, Ewing again singled out Divac, spun down the middle, and shot a mid-range jumper, scoring again.
After the shot, Ewing still looked towards Gan Guoyang, as if saying, "When are you going to guard , Ah Gan?"
Gan Guoyang ignored Ewing, still assigning the task of guarding Ewing to Divac.
In terms of physicality, Divac couldn’t compete with Sabonis, but Divac had his own way of defending.
That is, flopping.
Near the end of the third quarter, when Ewing tried to single out Divac again, he turned and bumped, and Divac just fell with the flow.
The referee blew the whistle, calling an offensive foul on Ewing.
Ewing didn’t even have ti to argue with the referee; Divac quickly got up from the ground, passed the ball with a long pass.
Gan Guoyang intuitively dashed to the frontcourt, leaping high to catch the pass, landing, spinning past the defender, and easily dunking the ball.
The Trail Blazers played beautifully on both offense and defense, while the Knicks played tenaciously.
Substitute Kenny Walker, utilizing Ewing’s inside defensive attraction, shot mid-range after receiving the ball, scoring 3 consecutive points, closely trailing the score.
At the end of the third quarter, the ga was tied 77:81, with the Trail Blazers maintaining a 4-point lead, both sides heading into the final quarter.
During the interval break, the Trail Blazers had a cheerleader performance, a significant transformation given to the team by Tang Jianguo after becoming the Trail Blazers’ owner.
Tang Jianguo demanded that the cheerleaders dress beautifully and attractively, to feast the eyes of both the live audience and TV viewers.
Tonight, the cheerleaders in Portland were visibly energetic, dressed in black sports bandeaus and red three-quarter length sports pants as they jumped around the court, invigorating the atmosphere and capturing the eyes of many fans.
Back then, the aesthetic standard for cheerleaders was still normal, with the girls being tall and slender, not muscular like sprinters years later.
As the cheerleaders left the court, the fourth quarter began and Gan Guoyang took off his tracksuit to enter the ga.
Ewing remained on the court too, ready for the decisive monts.
The Knicks initiated the offense, passing the ball to Ewing first.
At this mont, Ewing was no longer facing Sabonis or Divac, but Ah Gan.
In the first three quarters, Ewing had already scored 33 points, a remarkable performance.
Gan Guoyang had only scored 18 points but also had 11 rebounds and 8 assists.
As soon as Ewing caught the ball and was about to make a move, Gan Guoyang imdiately reached out and disrupted the possession.
Ewing, quick with his eyes and hands, retrieved the ball, but his offense was already disrupted, forcing him to pass the ball.
Mark Jackson’s outside shot didn’t go in, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the defensive rebound.
The Trail Blazers didn’t rush to counterattack, and Porter slowly dribbled the ball to half-court.
Gan Guoyang quickly positioned himself on the left baseline, and Porter fed him the ball.
Gan Guoyang faked a shot and then broke along the baseline, facing Oakley’s helping defense, he dunked with his left hand!
Oakley tried his best, but when Gan drove to the basket, fouling was the only way to stop him.
Afterward, Mark Jackson and Ewing coordinated a high pick and roll; Jackson made a direct three-point shot after the screen, and hit it!
A beautiful and bold three-point shot brought the Knicks closer.
Porter wanted to respond in kind, but his hurried stop-and-shoot after the screen didn’t hit.
Gan Guoyang snagged an offensive rebound with the Knicks dense under their basket. He passed the ball to the wing.
Petrović caught the ball and hit a mid-range jump shot.
At the crucial monts of the fourth quarter, Beelman started Petrović on the court.
He perford quite well tonight.
Then Mark Jackson made a spinning throw shot that hit.
It seed he knew that letting Ewing play one-on-one was no longer realistic.
With Ah Gan defending him, it was tough for Ewing to make an impact.
Ewing, refusing to be discouraged, signaled Jackson to pass him the ball on defense.
Petrović’s hurried stop-and-shoot jump shot after his break was an airball, the ball going out of bounds.
Gan Guoyang told Petrović, "If your hand isn’t feeling good, you can throw at the board, I can grab it, but there’s nothing I can do if you miss completely!"
Petrović repeatedly apologized, embarrassed.
The intensity of the fourth quarter was a bit too much for Petrović.
After a few more exchanges, Beelman called a tiout and substituted Petrović with Hornacek.
By this ti, the score was 88:92 with the Trail Blazers leading by 4 points.
Returning from the tiout, Gan Guoyang’s layup drive didn’t succeed, with the Knicks defending densely under the basket.
The Knicks counterattacked, Ewing cut to the basket calling for the ball, but his layup was blocked by Gan Guoyang.
In the Trail Blazers’ offense, with peripheral movent, Cliff-Robinson caught the ball and hit a mid-range jumper.
Subsequently, grinding his teeth in determination, Ewing faced Gan Guoyang and scored with a spin shot, the score still at 90:94, a 4-point difference.
This was Ewing’s first basket against Gan Guoyang in the fourth quarter, bringing his points total to 35.
Beelman called another short tiout, substituted Cliff-Robinson with Jero Kossie.
At the sa ti, Beelman reminded Gan Guoyang, "Ah Gan, take the ga, we’re almost out of ti."
Gan Guoyang looked up at the tir, the last four minutes.
"Bobby, do you think this is a video ga, is it ti to press a button and activate Superman mode, then we win?"
Beelman said, "I know you, Sonny, I can’t say about other gas, but tonight you definitely can, you’ve rested enough."
Beelman had known Gan Guoyang for nearly 10 years, he was very clear about what condition he was in and what level he could perform at.
Gan Guoyang smiled, knowing his coach understood him well.
The Knicks’s defense focused on strong outside and weak inside, good at one-on-one but poor in rotation and help defense.
The best way to handle Gan Guoyang was always strong team defense, multiple players surrounding him.
Tonight the Knicks were not doing well at this, the score was so close because, firstly, Ewing was in good form, and secondly, Gan Guoyang had been holding back, not fully exerting himself.
Returning from the tiout, Gan Guoyang played a 2 1 against Ewing, making the additional shot to widen the gap.
Although Oakley responded with a 2 1, mid-shot hit causing a foul on Divac, Gan Guoyang then made a three-pointer from the top of the arc!
Then the Trail Blazers tightened their defense, allowing Mark Jackson a long shot, which he missed, and Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound for a counterattack.
He dribbled the ball all the way to the three-second zone, drawing in the defense before lofting it to Divac who caught the ball and scored with a forceful dunk!
That wasn’t all, Defence-wise, Gan Guoyang and Porter ganged up on Mark Jackson, stealing the ball and quickly transitioning to Gan Guoyang who easily scored with a layup.
In three minutes, Gan Guoyang scored 8 points, had 1 assist, and 1 steal, leading the Trail Blazers in a 10:2 offensive surge, widening the gap to more than 10 points and securing the victory.
Stu Jackson could only call a tiout, but the Knicks were powerless to recover.
Ewing played well for three quarters, but in the fourth quarter facing Ah Gan, he could only score 2 points.
Then being outscored by Ah Gan who scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, finishing with a triple-double of 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists, and took ho the victory.
At the end of the ga, Gan Guoyang didn’t forget to thank Ewing: "Thank you, Patrick, for helping us train the rookie, you’re in great form this year, almost like my rookie season."
Ewing knew Ah Gan was a good person, with a good relationship off the court.
It’s a sha, such a good person, if only he didn’t talk.
User Comments
0 comments from readers