"In the last five seconds, the Trail Blazers still have a chance. The two-point gap is over, but the Trail Blazers players have not returned to the court yet. Ramsey is still reminding them about something... The atmosphere has reached the most tense moment."

The second game was in the ups and downs. In the first quarter, two fouls from Gan Guoyang left the court early to rest. The Trail Blazers fell into a passive position, and the Rockets began to gain the upper hand relying on their inside advantage.

The Rockets' advantage continued to expand and continued to the fourth quarter. Less than 2 minutes before the end of the game, the Rockets still maintained an 8-point lead.

Gan Guoyang suffered from fouls throughout the game, and his playing time was divided into pieces, so it was difficult to stay on the court and contribute to the team continuously.

This is very difficult for players. Players need time to get into the state when playing games. If they keep going up and down, they will not be able to find the feeling of the game, especially on the offensive end. Gan Guoyang only scored 17 points in this game, which is a new low in the playoffs.

However, the Trail Blazers' substitute players are still very powerful, and they have made up for the loopholes caused by Gan Guoyang's bench on the offensive end, but in the end they are still eight points behind.

Seeing that the game was gradually falling into the control of the Rockets, time was consumed a little bit, Van derwich was the first to stand up. When the Rockets failed to attack, Van derwich used a cold arrow outside the three-point line, a 23-foot three-pointer narrowed the gap between the two sides to 5 points. This was also the Trail Blazers' first three-pointer in this game.

Immediately afterwards, Gan Guoyang finally made a vent in the first quarter, causing Olajuwon to make an offensive foul, the Rockets made a mistake, and the Trail Blazers gained the attacking power again.

This time it was Paxson's turn to show off. Paxson's touch was still the same in this game. In the last moment, Ramsey also put Paxson on the court. He lived up to expectations. When Drexler missed a layup, Gan Guoyang tried hard to get the ball out. Paxson, who was outside the three-point line, happened to receive the ball and took another three-pointer without hesitation.

The Memorial Stadium exploded instantly, and the 8-point gap suddenly turned into two points, and the Trail Blazers saw hope of a comeback.

Then both sides were wasted an offensive opportunity. The Rockets had the ball 30 seconds before the end of the game.

The Trail Blazers used a successful defense to prevent the Rockets from becoming a 24-second violation. With more than 5 seconds left in the game, they got the last offensive opportunity.

"Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!" The referee blew a whistle quickly, reminding the Trail Blazers players to enter the game as soon as possible. Ramsey was still dragging the players to give tactical details. After all, these last five seconds are too important.

Ramsey's tactics are not complicated, but he made several preparatory options to prevent various unexpected situations. The tactics he designed were a relatively safe cooperation that he had used. Drexler served from the outside, Gan Guoyang came to the outside of the three-point line to respond. After Drexler sent the ball, he directly cut in with the help of Gan Guoyang's cover.

If the Rockets' defensive man is not tight enough, Gan Guoyang will pass the ball to Drexler with his hand, allowing him to break through and throw. If he is tight, Parkson will go around from the right to the middle to receive the ball, and Gan Guoyang can choose to pass the ball to Parkson.

If Paxson cannot catch the ball, then Gan Guoyang can choose to attack by himself. Although the three-point line is a bit far from the basket, he can do this from this external breakthrough and throwing shot.

This is a very big test for Gan Guoyang's judgment and ball handling ability, but Ramsey is willing to put such responsibility on Gan Guoyang's shoulders. This is a test that a superstar must withstand, and Gan Guoyang's performance at a critical moment in the regular season is worth looking forward to.

Under the urging of the referee, the Trail Blazers player returned to the court with reluctance and faced the test in the last five seconds.

"Deruxler serves on the outside... Gan receives the ball, he does not pass, Parkson... still does not pass, Gan Guoyang breaks through with the ball, pay attention to the time... three-pointer!"

The Rockets' defense gave Gan Guoyang no chance to pass the ball at all. Drexler was pressed by Loyd. Paxson ran to the top of the arc with the help of Sampson's cover. However, Ralph Sampson replaced the decisive post Paxson, and it was too dangerous to pass the ball to Mitchell Sampson. Van dervic, as a piece that attracted defensive attention, was in the bottom corner of the left side, and he had no chance to pass it to him.

Gan Guoyang could only use the ball to break through horizontally, but Olajuwang defended very well and blocked Gan Guoyang's breakthrough route. This was Gan Guoyang's feeling when he thought of his 22 three-pointers in training at noon, so after dribbling to the top of the arc, he suddenly pulled up and shot three-pointers.

"Three-pointer..."

"Bang~"

This may be the winning goal, hitting the front of the basket, Gan Guoyang missed a three-pointer and the game ended.

Gan Guoyang, who missed a three-pointer, stood outside the three-point line for a long time. He put his waist down and lowered his head. Seeing the Rockets players hugging each other and cheering, his heart was particularly heavy.

"The series has just begun, it's not your fault, Gan." Drexler walked to Gan Guoyang and comforted him. He knew that Gan Guoyang hated failure, especially in this game, because of his poor foul and his ultimate defeat, Gan Guoyang would inevitably suffer in great pain.

In comparison, Olajuwon fulfilled his promise. In this game, he scored 37 points and 16 rebounds, which was the Rockets' MVP, completely overshadowed Gan Guoyang's performance of 17 points and 11 rebounds.

After the game, Gan Guoyang was inevitably criticized. His foul in the first quarter and his last shot were all criticized by the media, fans and the public.

Even the local media in Portland criticized Gan Guoyang's performance without mercy. On the front page of the Oregon Sports News, the cover was Gan Guoyang's lonely figure standing on the court after losing his final defeat.

It seems like Portland has lost the series. In fact, the two sides have only tied 1:1. The Trail Blazers players are still confident in the series. They want to fight the Rockets until the last second when Gan Guoyang performs abnormally. As long as Gan Guoyang returns to normal, it is natural to win the Rockets.

Many fans who support the Trail Blazers also think so, but they did not expect that since Gan Guoyang will perform abnormally, other players will naturally do the same.

In the first two games, the Trail Blazers' role players performed well, such as Paxson, Kenny Carr, and even Ken Johnson at the end of the bench, all performed well.

In comparison, the Rockets' substitutes have never had any highlights, and the reason is simple, because they are on the road.

For superstar players, there is not much difference between away and home games, but for role players, the impact of home and away games is still very large, especially the impact of the whistle, which is sometimes very critical.

The Trail Blazers players overlooked this point. For example, Paxson's super high shooting percentage of 18 shots and 15 shots in two games is extremely difficult to reappear at the Houston Peak Arena.

……………………

On May 15, after two days of rest, the entire Trail Blazers arrived in Houston and began preparing for the third game of the Western Conference Finals.

The Trail Blazers players should be said to be ready to face the difficult challenges. The Peak Arena has not been conquered in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

But the difficulty of this game is still beyond the imagination of Trail Blazers players. Including Ramsey, perhaps after this game, both Trail Blazers players and coaches should be able to understand the mood of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Rockets' biggest adjustment in the game was to let Ralph Sampson play against Gan Guoyang in defense, and then let Olajuwon make up for Gan Guoyang in time and give up the defense against Mitchell Sampson.

This move worked. In the semi-finals, the Rockets used this move to deal with Jabbar. Sampson relied on his height to top the back. No matter what move Gan Guoyang did, he only spread his arms to interfere, never jumped, and never moved the center of gravity casually.

Olajuwon set up a fly swatter behind Sampson. Although Gan Guoyang has the advantage of strength and can resist Sampson's hook, he can't keep an eye on Olajuwon's full jump from behind. In the semi-finals, Jabbar was blocked several times. No matter how powerful Gan Guoyang is, his height and experience are not as good as Jabbar, so he naturally suffered serious interference.

Mitchell Sampson was liberated and became the Trail Blazers' inside offensive point, but the Rockets didn't care at all. They knew that relying on Sampson, in the third quarter and the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers could not kill anyone.

What's worse is that the Trail Blazers' outside line finally failed. The role players seized the fleeting opportunities in the previous game, but at the peak arena, iron-striking became the main theme.

The first scoring point in the inside was suppressed, and the substitute microwave ovens were powered off, and the Trail Blazers were soon defeated.

When the maximum score difference between the two sides became 21 points in the third quarter, Gan Guoyang tried to use his offense to drive the entire team, but the feeling of being suppressed in the first half and the amount of physical energy consumed were not something that could be adjusted just by trying to adjust.

The Rockets' strategy of defending against Gan Guoyang, assisting defense and refilling the covers is consistent from beginning to end. Gan Guoyang's score is extremely difficult, and it is difficult to get a score than to eat shit.

The Trail Blazers have never been a team that is good at turning the table. This is a feature that people have summarized for the Trail Blazers over the past two seasons. The players seem to have accepted this feature, and the bench became dead, and the TV station's camera also began to give the so-called "impersonation of all beings".

After winning the first game, the Trail Blazers, who were confident and full of confidence, suffered a head-on blow in Houston. This script is almost exactly the same as the Rockets' opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Chapter completed!