Chapter 2237 - 41: 12

Chapter 2237: Chapter 41: 12

When Glory gained a 3:1 lead and was one step away from the finals, ESPN published an article titled "When Will Ah Gan’s Dominance Over the NBA End?"

The article began with, "This topic started about six or seven years ago, three years and another three years, will this be the last year?"

Currently, only a very few people in the League know that Gan Guoyang will retire after this season, and for various reasons, they all keep it a secret, not leaking a word.

Some do it out of loyalty to Gan Guoyang, while others fear retaliation from Gan Guoyang—the King of Las Vegas, who can be quite petty at times.

After the two home games, Gan Guoyang used spray paint on the sidelines to cross out the numbers 10 and 11; with five more victories, his playing career will end.

As the playoffs deepen, Gan Guoyang and Glory’s condition improves more and more, and the team’s cohesiveness becomes stronger.

Accordingly, Gan Guoyang no longer stands out so prominently in the team; he is still the boss, but his brilliance no longer overshadows others as it once did.

In the fourth game against the Suns, Gan Guoyang scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and made 5 blocks, quite an average number for him.

The team’s ability to finally crush the Suns relied on the explosive three-point shooting of substitute Robert Horry and Allen Iverson’s 37 points throughout the game, supporting the team’s output.

Gan Guoyang’s role has become increasingly narrow, just like his simplified offensive methods.

He no longer shoulders all tasks alone but delegates to teammates, trusts teammates, and trusts the coach’s tactical arrangements.

Gan Guoyang enjoys this feeling of sharing the fruits of victory and the joy of victory with his teammates.

He has played the hero in too many games, so being a part of a team and cooperating with others feels wonderful.

On the 31st, the last day of May, Glory headed to Phoenix, intending to close the series.

However, the Suns were unwilling to leave the West Finals stage and relinquish the fight for the championship.

Trailing 1:3 is certainly despairing, but if they can win the fifth and sixth games, a Game 7 would take place in Phoenix.

So, the game was extremely intense, with both sides in a tug-of-war right from the first quarter.

Gan Guoyang was not in good condition tonight; he felt discomfort in his back before taking the court.

A burning sensation stretched from the latissimus dorsi all the way to the spine.

Before the game, a therapist gave him a massage for more than half an hour to relieve the pain.

Until before the game started, Porter asked Gan Guoyang, "How are you feeling?"

Gan Guoyang could only reply, "I won’t die."

Porter knew things weren’t great and decided to reduce his playtime.

The back pain was entirely due to accumulated injuries for Gan Guoyang.

Participating in the game continuously wears him down, with the possibility of a relapse at any moment.

When he played, he had to keep his waist and back very straight and slightly adjust his running posture.

He slowed down Glory’s offensive and defensive rhythm a bit on the court, causing the team to become passive.

Midway through the first quarter, Porter subbed Gan Guoyang out and replaced him with Robert Horry.

"Hey, are you alright, buddy?" Porter asked with concern.

"I told you, I won’t die. But it’s fine to come down and rest a bit."

After Gan Guoyang left the court, he didn’t sit down immediately, standing for a while before sitting because his back muscles were too stiff.

"Terry, I think I should play a bit more. I don’t feel the pain when I’m playing, but it hurts when I’m off."

Gan Guoyang told Porter, and Porter looked at him, knowing he wasn’t joking.

The situation on the court wasn’t favorable for Glory as the Suns seized the opportunity of Gan Guoyang’s early departure to launch fierce attacks.

Glory appeared to struggle without the defensive anchor, and the Suns hit them with an 8:0 run, making them trail by 10 points.

From the looks of it, Glory was in trouble tonight.

Many experts predicted that the Suns should clinch a home victory and drag the series back to Las Vegas.

However, Glory could indeed choose to end the series in Las Vegas.

Yet Gan Guoyang didn’t see it that way; this playoffs, Glory focused on quick resolutions.

Because every game extended risks a question mark over Gan Guoyang’s health status.

His back issues are like a ticking time bomb; no matter his attachment to the court, Gan Guoyang would not sacrifice wins to prolong his playing life.

Porter called a timeout, and Gan Guoyang returned to the court, replacing Yao Ming.

Yao Ming had a great start, with consecutive hits, but his defense struggled to keep up.

He had fulfilled his task for the first quarter; Gan Guoyang was to take over on the defensive end.

"I’ll guard the Three Second Zone; you guys focus on their perimeter, don’t let them get quick shots," Gan Guoyang said plainly.

Just that one sentence, and Glory’s players immediately felt reassured.

With his back pain initially bothering him, Gan Guoyang returned to the court. His adrenaline surged, and he quickly stopped feeling the pain.

He first set a screen to assist Iverson in making a mid-range jump shot, alleviating the team’s scoring drought.

Then on defense, he stopped Babosa’s drive, grabbed the rebound, and organized a counterattack.

Robert Horry missed a three-pointer, and Gan Guoyang tipped the ball to the outside, where Bell broke through with a floater and scored.

Glory gradually narrowed the point gap.

Nash immediately stepped up, riding and shooting, hitting a mid-range jumper.

Iverson and Gan Guoyang pick and roll, cut out, and hit a mid-range jumper as well.

Glory adopted a small lineup, with a very fast transition defense.

Stoudemire and Nash worked together, taking the ball to attack the basket, but were blocked by Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang’s defense left the Phoenix Suns fans in despair.

One after another of their close attempts at the basket were rejected by Gan Guoyang.

Subsequently, Glory counterattacked, and Iverson drove to the basket for a reverse layup.

With the score almost tied, D Antoni called a timeout. As expected, as long as Ah Gan was on the court, the Suns couldn’t play their game.

After losing the first match, Glory began to change their tactical mindset. When they attacked back and forth and stabilized their defense, the Suns couldn’t adjust.

They couldn’t adjust because the Suns’ tactical reservoir was too shallow, and D Antoni’s adaptability was indeed lacking.

In the end, the Suns relied on burning Nash’s creativity and Stoudemire’s knees to maintain their strength.

In the first half, the two sides fought fiercely, and the point difference remained around 2 or 3 points, with the Suns maintaining the lead.

Playing on their home court, they were determined not to be gentlemanly swept by Glory.

The halftime score was 49-52, with the Suns leading by 3 points. From the score, it could be seen that both teams had low shooting percentages.

It wasn’t because their conditions were bad, but rather they were fiercely competing.

During the halftime break, Gan Guoyang lay on the therapy bed, seizing the time to get a massage from the team physician.

Gan Guoyang was already prepared to play the finals with a closed-off injury; for now, massaging was still effective.

"Damn it, everything was fine before, but come playoffs, it starts hurting again."

Gan Guoyang was also anxious, as he had been in a relatively stable condition throughout the regular season.

But entering the playoffs, with increased intensity, his back began having issues.

Luckily, the first two rounds were 4-0 sweeps. If it had dragged on longer, the situation would definitely have worsened.

After the third quarter began, Gan Guoyang continued playing.

Before taking the court, he told Porter, "Terry, don’t sub me out, I’m afraid once I sit down, I won’t want to get back up."

"Is it that severe?"

"I told you it’s not life-threatening, but I don’t want it to hurt intermittently. Playing takes the pain away."

Thus, Gan Guoyang played the entire third quarter. With remarkably strong willpower, he single-handedly scored 12 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and made 3 blocks.

His individual effort turned the tide, helping Glory overtake the score, with Glory winning the quarter 31-24 against the Suns.

In fact, the Suns could still hang with Glory in the first eight minutes of the third quarter, waiting for Gan Guoyang to sub out and make a push.

Who knew, even when Nash went to the bench, Gan Guoyang stayed in, gritting his teeth through the back pain and leading the team on an offensive wave.

D Antoni hadn’t expected Ah Gan to be so relentless, refusing to sub out and continuing to play.

He didn’t have the courage to keep both Nash and Stoudemire on the court the whole time.

As a result, Glory, having overtaken the score, seized the momentum of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang also stayed on the court, maintaining the intensity of attack and defense seen in the third quarter.

Yao Ming began to step up, after playing at the beginning of the first quarter, he appeared to be invisible in the middle as he actually saved energy for the decisive stages, picking up the baton from Gan Guoyang.

Yao Ming scored consecutively in the low post, making turnaround jumpers, right-handed hooks, left-handed hooks, and receiving passes for dunks.

With abundant stamina, Yao Ming became the league’s top offensive weapon when receiving the ball under the basket; sometimes his finishing was even stronger than O’Neal’s.

Glory suppressed the Suns’ counterattack at the start of the fourth quarter. By the middle of the fourth quarter, the Suns began to desperately ignite their efforts.

Nash no longer elegantly organized the offense but instead took the ball himself to score, shooting from long range, mid-range, leaning-back shots.

Scoring continuously, but Glory had multiple players scoring: Iverson, Bell, Gan Guoyang, and Yao Ming could all score.

In contrast, the Suns’ other players, especially Grant Hill, could not resolve issues like they did in the 2005 playoffs with single-game 30-point performances; the Suns’ defeat was already destined.

At this time, those experts and fans who favored the Suns before the series would belatedly realize, if the Suns were truly strong enough, they wouldn’t have been dragged to a Game 7 by the Trail Blazers in the semifinals.

When Gerald Wallace received a pass from Gan Guoyang on the left side and hit a three-pointer, changing the score to 110-95, the Phoenix people knew their efforts to fight for a championship and resist Ah Gan had failed once more.

Charles Barkley was the first to "betray": "I knew it, Ah Gan is unbeatable! Congratulations to Sonny, making it to the finals once more! Damn, I can’t even remember how many times he’s made it to the finals."

"The 12th time, 12th time buddy, he has 11 rings, and he’s never lost in the finals, so this is the 12th." Kenny Smith looked at Barkley with disdain.

Barkley said: "Kenny, you still have time to come back and join Glory, you might get a ring."

As he spoke, Barkley, in the studio, flashed his 2000 Championship Ring in front of Barkley with a smug look.