The Golden Age of Basketball

On May 5th, the first place for the NBA to enter the conference finals was born. The Portland Trail Blazers won the fourth game with a 4-point advantage of 117:110 in an away game and swept the Denver Nuggets with a total score of 7:4. Successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

The Nuggets, who fell behind 0:3 before the game, expressed that they would fight for honor and strive to win a game at home, while the Trail Blazers players hoped not to return to Portland again, but to settle the battle in Denver.

But the reality is cruel. Facts have proved that there is a big gap between the two teams. As long as the strong team does not make mistakes, the weak team does not have much chance.

The Blazers made a mistake last year, and this year they learned their lesson, did not give the Nuggets a chance, and sent the English to go fishing with a clean bald head.

Such a result is undoubtedly cruel to the Nuggets players. In 1979, English, the second-round pick, came to the Colorado Plateau. In 1980, Doug Moe joined the team and brought a new style of play. Since that year, the Nuggets have entered the playoffs every year.

By the 1984-85 season, the big deal was completed, the Nuggets became a strong team with all soldiers, and English became one of the best scorers in the league. They began to try to challenge the Western order.

I just didn't expect that the Portland Trail Blazers, who helped them to a higher level, completed a greater transformation with a draft pick, and blocked the Nuggets from the conference finals for two consecutive years.

In a sense, the next five years for the Nuggets are already in sight, and they may never be able to touch the floor of the Western Conference Finals-unless there is a miracle, as if the Blazers get that pick.

Gan Guoyang hugged English tightly after the game and wished him good luck. This small forward who was not well-known in history, Gan Guoyang didn't know him at all when he first came to this time and space.

In the two playoff games, Gan Guoyang realized how terrifying he is. His strong scoring ability can always focus on the Blazers' weakness, and even almost kills the Blazers.

Gan Guoyang also shook hands with Doug Mo, but the buck-toothed character coach obviously couldn't hide his disappointment. After nodding, he hurried back into the player tunnel without exchanging greetings.

The scene quickly became deserted, and the fans left the field in twos and threes. They were still applauding for the Nuggets at the end of the game, encouraging them to perform brilliantly for a season, but after all, the team has been eliminated, and the journey of a season has come to an end .

Gan Guoyang was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines as the best player of the game. In this game, he scored 30 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, which was the biggest contributor to the team's victory.

In this interview, Gan Guoyang was finally able to say openly, "I'm thinking about my next opponent."

At this time, another round of semi-finals in the Western Conference will be played in the fourth game tomorrow. The Rockets won the third game "Little Tianwang Mountain" with a total score of 2:1, which is also far beyond people's expectations.

Of course, even if they fall behind 1:2, most people are still more optimistic about the Lakers. After all, from the perspective of historical experience, the Lakers are really the best team in the West. In the past 5 seasons, they have reached the Finals 4 times, and Never played a Game [-] in the West.

However, in the 1980-1981 season, the only season in which they failed to enter the finals in those five seasons, their loss was thanks to the Houston Rockets.

When Gan Guoyang was asked who he was more optimistic about between the Lakers and the Rockets, he chose to be optimistic about the Rockets without hesitation.

This is not only due to Gan Guoyang's knowledge of some historical processes. After all, some history has been changed by him. Gan Guoyang is more out of the sensitivity of a professional player to judge the outcome of the series.

Gan Guoyang watched the live broadcast of the first three games without delay. This is different from Gan Guoyang in the past. In the past, Gan Guoyang was a person who didn’t even bother to check the schedule. He couldn't understand.

From the live broadcast, Gan Guoyang could clearly feel the Lakers' weakness, especially in the third game. In Houston, the Lakers' troika was already at full strength, but they still lost the game. Bad luck, but really couldn't beat the opponent in the fourth quarter.

The Rockets are tall and strong, plus the command of champion coach Bill Fitch, for the first time, the Purple and Gold Army felt that they could not beat their opponents in terms of head-to-head strength.

You know, in 1981, the Rockets were able to upset the Lakers in the first round. In addition to the performance of Moses Malone, the conflict between Magic Johnson and coach Westhead became public. The internal crisis of the team was also an important factor that led to the defeat of the defending champion.

Even a few times in the finals, the loss to the 1983ers in 76 was one of the reasons why the 76ers were too strong, and Worthy's absence due to injury was also one of the reasons.

They were defeated in seven games in 1984, which also contained elements of bad luck. They were indeed very close to the championship, and they also succeeded in revenge in the second year.

But this time, Gan Guoyang could tell that the Lakers were really overwhelmed.

On May 5th, at the summit arena, the Lakers once again faced the impact of the twin towers. They must win this battle, otherwise they will go to Los Angeles with a score of 5:3, which is too difficult.

But a similar scenario was repeated in the fourth game. In the first three quarters, the two sides came and went, chasing each other. First, the Lakers took the lead in the second quarter. At the end of the third quarter, the two sides tied and entered the fourth quarter. , This is not the same as the situation in the first three quarters of the third game.

In the fourth quarter, the Lakers' nightmare came again, and they were bored again!

The troika had very little rest time, and James Worthy didn't rest for a minute. Correspondingly, McGregor, who defended Worthy, also played 1 minutes on the court!

The performance of the three is still very good. Magic Johnson got a triple-double, but apart from these three, there is no fourth point that can stand up to share the pressure for them. The Rockets' strangling tactics are successful.

The exhausted Lakers were beaten 16:25 by the Rockets in the fourth quarter. They scored less than 20 points in the fourth quarter in two consecutive games. In the end, they lost helplessly in the summit arena. Years later, the Lakers never met again.

3:1, the result was beyond everyone's expectations. The major media have already started to hype the duel between Gan Guoyang and the Rockets Twin Towers in the Western Conference Finals. In the fourth game, Olajuwon scored 35 points and 4 blocks with all his strength. The debate about who is the strongest center in the 1984 rookie class has spread in full swing.

Gan Guoyang didn't care too much about these slobbers. The advantage brought by the 4:0 victory over his opponent was that he had enough rest time. Even if the Rockets eliminated the Lakers in the next game, the Western Conference Finals would not officially start until May 5.

On May 5th, Gan Guoyang stayed at home for a day and watched the game between the Lakers and the Rockets. The result was as he expected. So early the next morning, Gan Guoyang resumed training and kept in good shape to prepare for the Western Conference Finals.

Since the start of the playoffs, the amount and content of the team's training has gradually decreased, but the training has become more and more targeted, especially some tactical training, which has occupied the main content of the team's training.

However, Gan Guoyang attaches great importance to physical training. He does not hesitate to torture himself with high-intensity long-distance running in order to adapt to the increasingly intense playoffs and keep his body in a vigorous competitive state.

After watching the game between the Lakers and the Rockets, Gan Guoyang became more determined to increase his physical fitness. Regardless of whether the opponent in the Western Conference Finals is the Lakers or the Rockets, physical fitness is definitely the key factor in determining the outcome of the game.

However, Gan Guoyang still has a sense of protection for himself. He knows that incorrect running posture and long-term running on hard ground will cause great damage to his knees, so he chose to start a three-hour marathon running training on a treadmill.

Driven by Gan Guoyang, all the Blazers players have devoted themselves to active training, and have carried out targeted exercises based on their positioning in the team and their own characteristics.

Ramsey, Bellman and Adelman of the coaching staff are closely watching the trend of another round of semifinals. On May 5, their opponents in the division finals are likely to be released.

………………

At the same time in the East, the Boston Celtics also followed suit and defeated the Atlanta Hawks 4:1 to advance.

Like the Nuggets, the Hawks fell behind 0-3 early on, only to save some face in the fourth round, winning by a point at home.

However, the result was that the Celtics returned to the home court. Amidst the deafening cheers of the home fans, they swept the Eagles with a 33-point advantage. This game was simply a carnival for the Celtics. Larry Bird Naturally, he was the brightest star, scoring a game-high 36 points, and McHale also contributed 25 points.

And the Celtics team has a total of 12 players, all of whom got the chance to play, and all of them scored!

Even a water cooler keeper like Rick Carlisle (yes, later the Mavericks' head coach) got more than ten minutes to throw a goal.

If the Hawks had known this earlier, they might as well have lost four games and saved themselves from being tortured in Boston.

On the other hand, the feud between the Bucks and the 76ers was not so easy. They were completely on the bar, from 1:0 to 1:1, then to 2:1, 2:2, 3:2, the Bucks In the crucial fifth game of Tianwangshan, they won the victory in the away game, and they will return to the home game in the sixth game. The situation is very good.

But the 76ers gnawed their steel teeth. Charles Barkley once again scored 23 points and 21 rebounds in a large double-double, and veteran Maurice Cheeks even scored a triple-double.

Bobby Jones, who has always been a substitute, came to the starting position and played 28 minutes as a surprise soldier, shooting 9 of 7 shots, 11 of 9 free throws, and scored 23 points extremely efficiently.

The 76ers also beat the Bucks in an away game, leaving the suspense of the series until the seventh game of life and death.

At this time, the Lakers, the 76ers' old rival, had already died under a lore like a flying fairy.