The Golden Age of Basketball

"2.8 seconds to the end of the game, yes, 2.8 seconds, I can take a puff, I can say a word, I can tie my shoelaces. Now, the Lakers have 2.8 seconds to execute The last attack, 126:125, a gap of one point, 2.8 seconds, the entire Great Western Forum arena is waiting for this miracle to happen...Who will the Lakers make the last shot? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Magician? West? Or Cooper? Abdul-Jabbar is not in a good state today. He was restricted by Gan. He only scored 14 points on 5 of 11 shots and only got one free throw opportunity. Gan is like a big pliers. The hook was clipped outside the three-second zone, preventing him from getting close to the basket. The magician continued his mvp-level performance. He has scored 22 points, 16 assists and 4 rebounds. Worthy is also excellent, with 30 points and 10 rebounds... Well, I know that every time they play against the Trail Blazers, their small forwards will perform phenomenally. (ps: This is really not made up by me, look at the real game records, and the small forwards of the teams playing against the Trail Blazers There's always going to be a superpower play.) So who the hell is going to execute this last shot?"

CBS TV host Dick Stockton was in front of the TV to set off the atmosphere and pave the way for the last 2.8 seconds of the game. Everyone, including the fans at the Great Western Forum, thought that these 2.8 seconds What's going to happen, because this is Los Angeles, it's Hollywood, and it's the Los Angeles Lakers on the court.

The game between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers on January 1, as expected, entered a dog-tooth battle from the beginning.

In the first half, the score gap between the two sides never exceeded 5 points. If one side showed signs of gaining momentum, the other side would immediately make adjustments and ease the situation.

Recently, Gan Guoyang, who has been killing all sides on the offensive end, was strangled by the Lakers in the interior. The three of them took turns to double-team. The offense stalled.

The other players of the Blazers were quite good. Although Vandeweghe's defense was as bad as ever, he played a perfect first half, making 8 of 8 shots, 4 of 4 free throws, and scored 20 points in the half.

This allowed the Blazers to maintain a balance with the Lakers in the first half.

But in the third quarter, Vandeweghe could no longer ask for anything. He was completely locked up, and Drexler was also dealt with. The Lakers unswervingly let him shoot, and Drexler returned it with continuous iron strikes.

In the third quarter, the Lakers beat the Blazers 36:17, almost completely crushing the Blazers.

This season, the two sides are already the most powerful contenders for the Western Conference championship. Needless to say, the Lakers, after a wave of consecutive victories, the Trail Blazers have soared to 30 wins and 8 losses, second only to the Lakers' 28 wins and 5 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference , ranked third in the West because of the division ranking.

Whether it is Pat Riley or Magic Johnson, the Blazers have been listed as the strongest competitors this season.

Just when everyone felt that there was no suspense in the game and the Lakers entered the fourth quarter with a 22-point lead, the Blazers launched a shocking counterattack.

They started with defense first. Gan Guoyang, who was in a mess on the offensive end tonight, did not try his unreliable mid-range shot like Drexler. He began to think about looking for a sheepdog on the pasture and put all his energy into it. They are all placed in the protection of their own half.

From the basket to beyond the three-point line at the top of the arc, Gan Guoyang started a wide range of supplementary defenses. He tirelessly flanked and supplemented defenses, especially against Magic Johnson. His height and wingspan still played a role. In this game, the Magic Three of the division's four turnovers came in the fourth quarter.

Effective defense can bring a sharp counterattack. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Ramsey replaced Cauchy, Colter and Porter again. Their impact was not possessed by Paxson and Vandeweghe.

Gan Guoyang's steals, blocks and backcourt rebounds provided sufficient ammunition for the Black Cavalry in the frontcourt, and the crazy Blazers' fast break swept the last quarter of the Great Western Forum.

Pat Riley originally hoped that Kareem would rely on singles to stabilize the situation in the last quarter, but Gan Guoyang and Kenny Carr double-teamed Kareem without hesitation. The sluggish Abdul-Jabbar had no time to guard the basket.

By the middle of the fourth quarter, the Blazers had already hit a 20:3 super shock wave, and the roaring Riley could only replace Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with Maurice Lucas, an insider added during the offseason.

I have to admit that facing the former owner, the team that he once left the most glorious imprint on, Maurice Lucas's performance can be called undercover.

As soon as he played, his mistake gave the Blazers a chance to counterattack. This time Gan Guoyang caught up with the dunk in the fast break and narrowed the gap to 3 points. The gap of 22 points was almost filled.

Immediately afterwards, Lucas made another mistake. On the defensive end, his foul made Gan Guoyang succeed in hitting a three-pointer. With Gan Guoyang making an additional penalty, the two sides tied!

After that, the two sides began to see-saw again. With 2.8 seconds left in the game, Jim Paxson hit a golden mid-range shot. This was his only goal in the game, but it allowed the Blazers to overtake 126:125. One point for the Lakers!

So, everyone began to wait for the Lakers' final attack, the last attack that could change everything.

"The timeout ended and the players from both sides returned to the court. No one thought that the game would be so intense. We all thought the third quarter was over. However, the Blazers hit a super shock wave of 53:20. The record for points scored in a single quarter in a game this season, the most scored in a single quarter in nba history was set by the Buffalo Braves in Boston in 53, when the Braves scored 1972 points in the fourth quarter of that game. Let's decide this game The final attack of the result!"

All the fans in the arena stood up, they were all looking forward to a miracle, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also returned to the court. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's key ball ability may be the strongest among centers in the entire history of the NBA.

The Blazers were also on guard. Vandeweghe and Paxson were replaced. Jerome Cosey stared at Magic Johnson, and Drexler was given the task of marking Worthy.

Rambis served from the perimeter, and he was the least offensive threat among the starters.

"Beep!" The referee's serve whistle blew, and the ball was handed over to Rambis, who had 5 seconds to make a choice.

Pat Riley arranged two tactics during the timeout, one was Worthy and Johnson cross-switching to cover, one went to the middle, and the other went down from 45 degrees, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar mentioned the horn position.

Worthy who cuts in is the bait, and the magician who goes in the middle is the master. After receiving the ball, he will directly break through from the middle, or make a layup or throw.

Cooper is also ambushing in the bottom corner on the right. If the magician receives the ball quickly enough, he will pass the ball to Cooper. Cooper has a chance to make a shot in the last 0.1 seconds.

That's option one, assuming Worthy's bait and Kareem's pick-and-roll at the corners work.

If Kareem's screen is ineffective, it means that the Blazers did not switch defenses. Cosey must pass between Kareem and Gan Guoyang, so that Rambis can pass the ball directly to Kareem at the horns. Kareem is in this position. The catch can go straight to the hook lore, although there is a full 18 feet from the basket.

Abdul-Jabbar did just that in the 1979 opener against the San Diego Clippers. An 18-foot long-range hook sent the Clippers to hell. Rookie Magic Johnson hugged Kareem like a happy fawn and laughed. Called, the old Kareem was confused, "It's only the first game, and the season is still long."

Now, so many years later, Magic is still full of passion for the game like a happy fawn, and Kareem is much older, but he can also hit such a difficult long-range hook.

Worthy has already slid down, Drexler followed, and Kareem made a screen for the magician, Gan Guoyang made a gap for Kexi, and Kexi passed between Kareem and Gan Guoyang to defend the magic division!

"It's now!" Rambis took aim at this node. At this time, Gan Guoyang's defense against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the weakest, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had already asked Rambis for the ball.

Rambis threw the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar without hesitation. He could already see the graceful posture of the skyhook in the air and the perfect swish of the ball when it entered the basket...

But everything is spoiled by the shadow behind.

Rambis didn't expect Gan Guoyang to be so fast.

Gan Guoyang, who just gave way to Ke Xi, pounced forward like a cheetah, and poked the ball away from behind before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could catch it!

"Gump knocked the ball off! Gan knocked the ball off! Gan dropped the ball in his arms! Gan dropped the ball in his arms! Perfect defense, game over, Blazers won , over, perfect defense."

Perfect defense, without any suspicion of foul, Gan Guoyang's cut is very clean.

With the sound of the buzzer, the game ended, and Gan Guoyang was still lying on the ground with the ball in his arms. All the Blazers players rushed forward and pressed Gan Guoyang under them to celebrate. It was an exciting victory.

Even for the Blazers players who have won so much that they want to vomit recently, being able to defeat the Zijin Army in this way at the Lakers' home court is enough to make people happy.

Especially the super big reversal in the fourth quarter, and the way to win - relying on defense, this is a sign of the gradual maturity of a strong team.

After the game, many reporters asked why Gan Guoyang's last steal was so fast, and when it was related to the 1979 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar game, Gan Guoyang said something intriguing.

"It's not because I'm fast, it's because time slows people down."