Daley decided not to call a tiout; he believed in the players’ ability to adjust.
And he also didn’t believe in curses; could they really not score?
As a result, Thomas’s pass to Lan Bi’er under the basket was intercepted by Gan Guoyang.
A snatch and steal followed by an imdiate counterattack!
Gan Guoyang, previously sluggish, suddenly charged up with energy and rushed toward the Pistons’ frontcourt.
He spun past Thomas, who tried to block him, and then used his speed to shake off lvin Turpin, while Rodman attempted to commit a foul on Ah Gan.
But he was really overthinking; the charging Gan Guoyang could carry two Rodmans on his back as he leaped with trendous force. Not only did he slam the ball into the basket, but he also sent the nearby Rodman flying, sliding on his butt beyond the baseline.
The referee blew the whistle, calling a defensive foul on Rodman. It was already his second foul in the first quarter, forcing Daley to substitute him for Mark Aguirre.
Rodman shook his head as he left the court, returning to the sideline, and said to Daley, "Dad, we’re in trouble."
Gan Guoyang stepped to the free-throw line and scored; it was already 14:0!
"Oh God, Daley, aren’t you going to call a tiout? When can you guys score, Pistons’ boys?" Dick Stockton questioned.
Still no tiout.
Pistons passed to Aguirre in the low post, who turned and used a strong post-up move against Jero Kossie, faking him out.
But the shot was disturbed by the help-defense of Ah Gan, still no basket; the Pistons just couldn’t score tonight.
Sabonis grabbed the defensive rebound. With the Pistons in a scoring drought and unable to grab critical offensive rebounds, the situation was dire.
During a poor offensive performance, offensive rebounds are often a lifeline, but tonight, Sabonis and Gan Guoyang guarded the three-second zone so tightly, not a single drop got through.
Sabonis passed directly to Ah Gan; Gan Guoyang brought the ball up across half court and said to Daley while passing by the Pistons’ bench, "Ti for a tiout, Dad!"
As he said this, Gan Guoyang dribbled all the way to the left three-point line and shot a three-pointer, making it!
17:0!
Finally, Daley couldn’t hold back and called a tiout towards the referee.
While calling the tiout, Daley’s mouth—
From the start of the ga to now, the Pistons had not scored a single point, and the entire Palace of Auburn Hills was as quiet as a graveyard.
During the tiout, as he returned to the bench, Gan Guoyang bowed to the Pistons’ fans.
Back on the bench, Gan Guoyang explained to his teammates, "You know why I look a bit tired and sad today? Because I’m here to bury Detroiters tonight. I must make this funeral clean and beautiful without leaving any regrets."
Having said that, the teammates all laughed, the pre-ga tension and anxiety vanished into thin air.
Gan Guoyang drank so sports drink; the hunger in his belly was subsiding, the Detroit pigs and dogs were gradually feeding the hungry tiger.
When the tiout was over, the Pistons adjusted their lineup, John Salley replaced Lan Bi’er, opting for a more flexible, faster lineup.
The Trail Blazers made no adjustnts, and Isiah Thomas, after returning from the tiout, directly went into the basket using a pick and roll; Sabonis wisely opened a path for Thomas.
Gan Guoyang rushed over from the other side, slapped Thomas’ layup against the backboard, and sent it flying!
Kossie grabbed the ball and initiated a fast break.
Slowing down, he passed the ball back to Gan Guoyang who followed up.
Catching the ball and jumping up, the Pistons dared not block, nobody dared commit a malicious foul.
Gan Guoyang let out a roar, slamming the ball into the basket with one powerful arm!
Even the reinforced basket shook violently under the force of Gan Guoyang’s dunk.
As a result, the tir placed above the backboard was shaken off and fell to the floor, shattering.
The ga was paused for a few more minutes as Gan Guoyang stood courtside, hands on hips, the ferocity from the dunk disappearing.
He still had a droopy face, sagging shoulders, looking unsatisfied, only his shining eyes alive.
Jerry West suddenly recalled where he had seen such eyes; it was in a docuntary about wildlife, the eyes of a hungry tiger hunting in the forest.
The start at 19:0 created a record for the largest scoring gap at the beginning of an NBA finals ga in history.
Gan Guoyang scored a straight 19 points at the start, setting a new historical record, single-handedly shattering the Pistons’ defense.
But the Pistons finally scored; Joe Dumars received a pass from Thomas on the right side and at last hit a mid-range shot.
Nearly ten minutes of silence, the Palace of Auburn Hills finally breathed a slight breath of life, but the eyes of the fans on the scene were mostly filled with confusion.
With the gap reaching more than 15 points at the start, how could the rest of the ga be played?
Everyone knew Gan Guoyang would explode tonight, but nobody expected it to be an individual 19:0 against the Pistons.
In Chicago, Jordan watched the ga at ho; seeing Gan Guoyang’s one-arm dunk on the Pistons in the first quarter, he couldn’t help but stand up and paced in front of the TV.
His mouth kept repeating, "Xie Te, Xie Te, Xie Te!"
At the Palace of Auburn Hills, Magic Johnson shook his head as he watched the ga.
Johnson had been watching the ga between the Pistons and the Trail Blazers from the sidelines since the third ga.
Among the stars supporting Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers, Magic Johnson was among the few supporting Thomas.
After all, not only was he friends with Thomas, but he was also good buddies with Aguirre.
When Thomas got elbowed and fractured his cheekbone, Johnson imdiately rushed to Detroit to visit his good friend.
User Comments
0 comments from readers