Chapter 26 Experience

The Jazz couldn't make any waves in the second half, although Stockton and Henson, the two white players, played quite well, especially Stockton, who scored 20 points with 8 assists for the game, including 8 free throws, 7 of which he made.

But a 20-point gap proved too difficult to overcome, and Dantley still couldn't find his offensive rhythm in the second half, becoming thoroughly lost amid the Trail Blazers' rotating defense of tall forwards.

For the whole game, he made only 5 free throw attempts, even 3 less than Stockton, which delayed Dantley from finding his offensive rhythm.

Not to mention Malone, who was sent sprawling by Gan Guoyang in the first quarter and got blocked by Gan twice in the third quarter, contributing nothing on either defense or offense.

He tried to execute pick and rolls with Stockton, but all of it was seen through and defended by Gan, leading either to turnovers or falls—Malone hit the floor at least five times tonight.