On May 2, 1985, the Portland Trail Blazers continued their second match in the Western Conference semi-finals with the Denver Nuggets at home.

After experiencing the terrifying moment in the last quarter of the first game, the entire Portland Trail Blazers were nervous. For them, if they could win this home court, it would mean that they had stepped into the Western Conference Finals with one foot.

Since winning the championship in 1977, the Portland Trail Blazers have been unable to enter the division finals again, and they have fallen on the threshold of the semi-finals several times.

And this year is definitely a good opportunity for the pioneers to take further.

Therefore, the Trail Blazers started the second game with amazing pensions. They no longer played against the Nuggets like they did in the first game, but instead balanced offense and defense, striving to suppress the Nuggets on both offense and defense.

Their opponent, Denver Nuggets, unexpectedly fell into an offensive low.

The last game was hot and English, who scored 46 points in the whole game, no longer felt in this game. He made 1 of 6 shots in the first quarter, without free throws.

The team's main scoring point was silent, and other Nuggets players did not make up for it in time, but felt cold.

This is undoubtedly a major blow to the Nuggets who rely on shooting to make a living. At this time, they lack advantages in the interior and exposed their tactical lack.

In that era when three-pointers had not yet formed a tactic, teams without inside attack were destined to be lame teams. Once a team that relies on shooting lost its feel in a certain game, the one waiting for them would inevitably be failure.

Amid the cheers of the Memorial Stadium, the Portland Trail Blazers continued to make rapid attacks, and the Denver Nuggets' 40% shooting percentage gave the Trail Blazers too many opportunities to counterattack.

Drexler, who was sent out in the last game, was very determined to perform well in this game. The digging team's slightly thin forward line could not resist Drexler's fast horse Qingqiu's surprise attack. In just one first half, Drexler relied on fast break to score 12 points, plus other offensive methods, and scored 19 points in the first half, which was his new record for halftime scoring in the playoffs.

"When the glider ran on the floor of the Memorial Stadium, I knew that no one could stop him from taking off." Seanley was full of praise when he commented.

63:47, this is the difference between the two sides at the end of the first half. The Trail Blazers' scores were lower than the previous game, but the Nuggets' scores dropped even more.

If Calvin Knight hadn't been able to make continuous output for the Nuggets as a power forward, the Nuggets would have lost more.

During the halftime break, Ramsey said the most that the players must learn from the lessons of the previous game and must not let the Nuggets reach an offensive climax.

"I would rather not score points by myself than let the Nuggets score easily!" Ramsey said.

Sure enough, in the second half, the entire Trail Blazers did not dare to relax at all. Drexler continued to assume his responsibilities in the last game and went to defend England.

In this game, Inglish failed to get much advantage from Drexler. Drexler kept sticking to England as if he had taken a strong pill to interfere with England's attack.

At the same time, Drexler also began to pay attention to controlling his fouls. He tried to disrupt England's offensive rhythm more than to prevent England's inability to make a move.

This kind of "bodyguard-style" defense that is closely related to harassment is very annoying for players who mainly shoot. Inglish, who even killed all sides in the last game, got bullets into the water in this game - silenced.

Without the support of the leading stars, the Nuggets' offense has always been lukewarm. With this style of play, the Nuggets cannot catch up with the Trail Blazers in any case. No matter how Doug Mo called the timeout, he could not drag the Nuggets out of the quagmire.

When the game reached the fourth quarter, Van dervich made two consecutive three-pointers at the three-point line, changing the scores of both sides to 107:81, and widening the gap to 26 points, Doug Mo knew that they were out of reach in this game.

So Doug Mo replaced the main player and began to send the substitutes on the court. At this time, Ramsey also began to replace the main starter and replace the substitute.

There is not much garbage time in the playoffs, and for the Trail Blazers with many young players, this is undoubtedly a good training opportunity.

Gan Guoyang played for a while on the court, but he didn't have the heart to shoot the data on the court. In this game, he was already very satisfied with the double-double of 18 points and 17 rebounds. The most important thing is that the team won the game.

Soon, with a dead ball, Gan Guoyang and Drexler were replaced together, and the Memorial Stadium quickly heard warm applause, which was the best affirmation for these two super newcomers.

"It's great. You will definitely be interviewed after the game." Gan Guoyang and Drexler walked side by side and said to Drexler.

Drexler's data of 22 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in this game shines across the game. It is certain that he was selected as the best player in this game, so Drexler will definitely accept a sideline interview from a reporter after the game.

"I don't understand. You are not afraid of anyone, why are you afraid of reporters interviewing you?"

"I'm not afraid, I hate it. I hate a person who has nothing to do with the game. I'm sure that the female reporter didn't watch the game at all, or she couldn't understand it after watching it." Gan Guoyang has always been very disgusted with reporter interviews, but the reporter still likes to interview him.

"Even if you don't accept sideline interviews, there will always be reporters interviewing you in the locker room, press conferences, and during training." The two of them had already sat on the bench, put on their sports clothes and waited for the end of the game on the sidelines.

The final score was frozen at 121:103. The Nuggets' substitute obviously performed better, but they could not fill the 26-point pit.

The Portland Trail Blazers won another game at home and changed the total score to 2:0. The format is a great "" movie for the Trail Blazers.

"Do you think the Trail Blazers can end this series in a few games?" In the post-match interview, Gan Guoyang encountered invisible difficulties from reporters again.

"I think we will definitely be within seven games, and we won't play the eighth game." Gan Guoyang made a haha ​​and avoided this hidden arrow.

"Cooper is the former former player of the Trail Blazers. Now he is in the Nuggets. We find that in the matchup on the court, he seems to have no choice but to you. At present, in the West, isn't only Jabbar your real opponent?" Just as the arrow passed, another arrow shot immediately.

"If you want to talk about Chinese Kung Fu, that's right. Only Jabbar is my real opponent." Gan Guoyang used Jabbar's practice of Chinese Kung Fu as a shield.

Compared with interviews in the locker room after the game, the interviews in the locker room are more casual. Because they don’t have to face TV cameras, some reporters always ask tricky questions. Gan Guoyang has now developed the good habit of "being cautious in words and actions and making jokes". He should try his best to speak without leaking the water, and at the same time, he will not offend reporters too much.

Of course, if some low-key journalists are too much, it will not be possible to ensure that Gan Guoyang will not get angry.

The Trail Blazers won the game, and Gan Guoyang was in a good mood. After dealing with the "siege" of the reporters, he brought his luggage to the parking lot of the Memorial Gymnasium, where Wang Fuxi was waiting for him in the car.

"You played so well today!" As soon as you got into the car, Wang Fuxi stepped forward and kissed Gan Guoyang.

"Yes, I think I'll be better at night!" Gan Guoyang smiled.

"Stop making trouble, you're going to Denver tomorrow, it's a plateau, I think you'd better save some effort."

After playing two home games, the Portland Trail Blazers will head to Colorado's Plateau home court, where they will withstand the severe test of away games.

"It's okay, the plateau is not as scary as everyone thinks. Believe me, I will be better in Denver than in Portland!"

"Okay, I believe in you~"

……………………

On May 3, the day after the second game, the entire Trail Blazers flew to Denver by plane.

But after arriving in Denver, they were in trouble.

Denver's airport is very distinctive. It is located at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Gan Guoyang can see the majestic snow-capped Rocky Mountains on the plane.

The entire airport building seems to be rolling white peaks, which looks integrated with the mountains behind it, full of natural beauty.

However, Gan Guoyang and his teammates were not in the mood to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the airport because there was a problem with the airport bus they were on.

So the Trail Blazers had to contact the Nuggets and ask them to send a new bus to pick them up.

The Trail Blazers arrived in Denver around 10 noon. They could have gone directly to the hotel for lunch, but the new bus arrived late at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, citing a traffic jam in the city.

The Trail Blazers players did not eat at the airport for tomorrow's game, so they waited for the bus to come over while hungry.

When they arrived at the hotel by bus, it was already around 3:00 pm, and Ramsey had to cancel the team training scheduled for the afternoon.

In this way, the Trail Blazers can only do a simple shooting exercise tomorrow morning and then play the third semi-final game with the Denver Nuggets directly at the McNichols Sports Center in the evening.

"This game is very, very, very critical. We must strive to win! In this way, the morale of the Nuggets will be completely dispersed! We will be sure to win the series." Ramsey said at the team meeting after dinner.

But the players didn't seem to have any expression. Perhaps they all felt that they were already leading 2:0, and it was time to relax.

"Will Denver fans be too sad?" Gan Guoyang suddenly said, and as soon as he said something, his teammates laughed.

"Don't think about this! If you don't want to be sad by yourself, then let others be sad!" Ramsey shouted.

The room fell into silence again.
Chapter completed!