I'm really good at shooting.

Chapter 460 "Notoriety Spreads Far and Wide"

No one understood this substitution.

You must know that Zhu Fangyu has played only 5 minutes per game so far in the playoffs.

It looked okay, but in fact, he only played 5 games. This is because he played the Warriors and had garbage time in almost every game.

He is a bit like Louis Williams' situation. At the end of the season, he gave a chance to perform well and stay on the playoff squad, but he didn't have the chance to play in the playoffs because of defensive problems.

"Maybe the Lakers want to try his [-]s?"

Kenny Smith gave a reasonable explanation in the commentary booth.

Zhu Fangyu can stay in the league because he has a good three-pointer.

In the last 2 minutes of the first quarter, Thomas scored two or three consecutive points on the Suns side, but Horry and Walker on the Lakers side missed consecutively.

It's okay to change someone who can shoot three-pointers to respond.

Back in the second quarter, the Lakers took the lead.

Finley and Mourning drove to the basket after the pick-and-roll, split and passed Tim Thomas for a layup.

But on the Suns side, Barbosa immediately made a pick-and-roll breakthrough and fouled, and made two free throws in return.

In the selection of the best sixth man this year, Barbosa lost to Mike Miller.

But that has something to do with the dispersion of the Suns players' multiple possessions. In terms of the attributes of the sixth man, he is obviously stronger.

Finley continued to play pick-and-roll with Mourning in the frontcourt.

This time the Suns shrunk to defend, and Zhu Fangyu in the bottom corner was vacated.

However, Finley did not pass, but forced a layup against Thomas, causing the latter's thug to foul.

Thomas' offense is good, but his defense is really bad.

But after these two rounds, Confucius couldn't understand it, Mencius couldn't understand it, and Lao Tzu couldn't understand it either.

Zhu Fangyu's replacement didn't seem to have any effect, so she just practiced back and forth?

And soon, the fans discovered a very interesting thing on the field.

Thomas, who was very active on the offensive end in the second half of the first quarter, squatted on the outside without moving away from Zhu Fangyu after two runs.

This is even more incomprehensible.

Thomas is a power forward, and Zhu Fangyu is a small forward. If the two match up, they will absolutely crush their bodies.

Thomas knows, not just throwing two three-pointers from the outside!
Barbosa's breakthrough was blocked, the Lakers counterattacked, and Christie assisted Finley to score another 2 points.

34 is better than 30!

Finley performed well during this period, and the Lakers successfully narrowed the point difference.

In the next round, something even more interesting happened on the field.

Barbosa signaled Tim Thomas to play in the low post, and Thomas was reluctant at first.

After Barbosa signaled for the second time, he reluctantly went to the basket.

And after he caught the ball and started back hitting, the others realized that his back hitting was a bit...gentle.

That's right, gentleness.

Zhu Fangyu, who was defending behind him, lowered his weight and tried to hit him, but Thomas just chose to turn around and hook out.

"when!"

The basketball smashed out of the frame, and Zhu Fangyu actually defended it!

There was a commotion at the scene.

But at this moment, Phil Jackson on the sidelines showed a grandpa KFC smile.

If Artest is notorious for beating fans in the "Auburn Hills Palace Brawl", then Zhu Fangyu's boxing of Bogut made him notorious among players.

That combined punch with a strong shadow of "Kung Fu" is more dreadful than Ma Long's iron elbow to a certain extent.

Especially for a player like Thomas who likes to "mouth high".

Because, you will really be beaten.

And there will be surprises in the next round.

Finley broke through again and was double-teamed. This time he chose to split the ball.

The ball was delivered to Zhu Fangyu in the bottom corner.

Zhu Fangyu made a shot as soon as he caught the ball.

It was obviously too late for Thomas to return to defense, so he watched Zhu Fangyu make a move.

"Shh!"

With a crisp sound, the three-pointer hit the net!

Zhu Fangyu scored his first career playoff point!
34 is better than 33!

And this three-pointer is still very important, the Lakers chased the score to only 1 point left!

D'Antoni was also dissatisfied with Thomas' performance in the second quarter at this time, and directly replaced him with Stoudemire.

This scene entertained Barkley and Kenny Smith in the commentary booth.

Because in a sense, Jackson replaced Zhu Fangyu and directly beat Thomas who was in excellent form!

You have Hua Xiong, I have Admiral Pan Feng!
And it really killed you!

Or it can also be understood as killing a chicken with a sledgehammer, why Sun Hao is needed to beat Thomas!

Zhu Fangyu, enough!

Jackson's adjustment was very eye-catching. The Suns had a chance to open the score, but once again fell into a tug-of-war with the Lakers.

This see-saw continued until the third quarter.

This time it was the Lakers' turn to explode, and they played a wave of 13-3 attacks at the beginning of the third quarter.

Unlike the Suns, the Lakers didn't let that opportunity slip by.

They played steadily and finally defeated the Suns 117-104 to win the game.

For the Suns, Stoudemire had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Marion had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Nash had 9 points and 13 assists, Barbosa had 14 points, and Diaw had 8 points and 4 rebounds.

湖人队这边，孙昊32分7助攻，奥尼尔21分13板，芬利16分，沃克11分3板3助攻，朱芳雨3分1板。

Sun Hao and O'Neal attended the press conference after the game.

"The Suns are a good opponent, he caused us some problems, but as in the past, the winner is still us."

O'Neill is in a good mood.

Although the Suns' double-teaming made him not as comfortable as when he was playing the Warriors, after playing the pick-and-roll with Sun Hao, he still scored easily.

After all, double-team this thing.Everything takes time.

The reporter asked Sun Hao the same question, but Sun Hao was more cautious.

"The Suns are very strong. We were lucky to win this game, and the next game will be more intense."

Sun Hao's answer caused O'Neill to probe for a while. This big guy obviously felt that Sun Hao was a little too cautious.

A day later, the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals continued.

The Pistons lineup is relatively fixed, and there is not much room for adjustment, but they have shown a higher defensive intensity than the first game.

The game turned into a defensive battle.

This time the Pistons played the game to the end.

Anthony hit the key ball, and McGrady's lore three-pointer missed the basket.

The Pistons eventually won 87-85 thrillingly, tying the big score to 1-1.

The next day, the second game between the Suns and the Lakers continued in Phoenix.

D'Antoni made tactical adjustments, replacing Kurt Thomas with Diaw.

Dior was still a swingman at the time.

This adjustment means that Stoudemire will go to the top center, and the Suns have resorted to a lineup without a center!

Although their respective tactical concepts are different, D'Antoni is the same as the old Nelson as a running and bombing coach.

When encountering a problem that cannot be solved, the first thing that comes to mind must be to use offense to solve the problem.

Facts have proved that D'Antoni's adjustment is effective.

Because no matter whether it is Stoudemire or Thomas, single defense cannot prevent O'Neal, and they still have to rely more on auxiliary defense.

Or to be more precise, rely on Marion's help defense.

When Stoudemire plays center, it means that Marion plays power forward, and his defense efficiency inside is obviously higher.

Of course, more importantly, the defensive counterattack ability of this lineup is much stronger than before.

Diaw, like Walker, is a fast-break pusher.

122 to 115, the Suns finally pulled back a victory at home, rewriting the big score to a 1-1 tie!
"You are right to worry, we all underestimate the enemy a little bit."

O'Neal said to Sun Hao in the locker room after the game.

Sun Hao didn't say anything.

Although the playoffs are not as long as the regular season, the intensity of the game is higher, round after round, which is a double test for the players' psychology and body.

Last season, the opponents they played went from weak to strong. There was a gradual process, and the players adapted very smoothly.

Looking back at the year we won the championship in Dallas three years ago, it was the same.

But the Lakers have something special this season.

After the Lone Ranger team was accidentally blacked out by the Warriors, they played the Warriors in the semifinals, and the intensity of the game was obviously diving.

Up to now, suddenly facing a high-intensity opponent like the sun, it is normal that the body and mind have not adjusted.

But just like this, they still won the first game, which shows that their hard power is still stronger than the Suns.

"Shaq, did you realize that this series is all about rhythm?"

Sun Hao did not continue the previous topic, but asked suddenly.

O'Neill nodded after thinking about it.

The Lakers' triangle offense is positional warfare, while the Suns are running and bombing.

The collision of two different styles of teams is to see if the Lakers can suppress the rhythm, or whether the Suns can speed up the rhythm.

"Let me set the pace."

At this moment, Peyton, who was listening on the sidelines, suddenly interrupted.

"I play the organization in the low post, which can slow down the rhythm."

Peyton went on to explain.

That's his forte.

"If you have the opportunity, you can hit Steve a few more. They have less space to help defend in the low position, and they can also consume more of Steve's energy."

Sun Hao nodded, Peyton's proposal is very useful.

"I know."

Peyton has clearly thought about it.

Two days later, the Lakers and Suns moved to Los Angeles for Game [-].

The Suns still arrange Dior to start, while the Lakers still have no lineup adjustments.

D'Antoni beamed when he saw the back.

As long as they win an away game, the Suns can regain home court advantage from the Lakers.

But after the game started, he found that the Lakers' style of play had changed a lot.

In the first two games, the ball was in Sun Hao's hands most of the time, and Sun Hao and O'Neal launched an offense with a pick-and-roll.

But in this game, the ball was in Payton's hands most of the time, and Payton was receiving the ball in the low post to support.

Because of Nash's poor defense, in addition to organizing, Payton even frequently played Nash in low post in that position!

The Suns had to flank from time to time, but they were often mobilized by Payton's pass, and they lost sight of the other.

More importantly, the rhythm on the field was obviously slowed down!

Even after tasting a certain amount of sweetness, after Payton was off the court, Jackson let Sun Hao continue to play back in that position!
The current Sun Hao is no longer the Sun Hao of last season. Although his passing is worse than that of Payton, his back-up threat is much greater than that of Payton.

The Suns looked even more flustered.

D'Antoni was also helpless off the court.

The overall defense of the Suns is strong, but he is not a coach who is good at defense!

Most of the time, the Suns' defense is enough. Now you ask him to adjust his defensive tactics on the spot, that is to catch the ducks on the shelf.

The assistant coach on the side had no good way, watching the Lakers from the opening advantage to the end of the game.

In the end, the Lakers beat the Suns 104-86 at home, rewriting the big score 2-1.

Such a change also aroused the fans' emotion after the game, feeling that this is a return to the game scene between Popovich and Nelson three years ago.

One move by you, one move by me, one move is fatal.

Sun fans also look forward to D'Antoni's new killer move in the next game.

It's just that in the fourth game of the series, D'Antoni didn't make any major adjustments.

It's not that he didn't want to, but...he didn't.

Compared with those two, D'Antoni still has less ink in his stomach.

He and Adelman should be the same type of coach.

When the most relied on tactical system does not work, the rest is more just passively beaten.

This is also a big reason why he failed to lead the team to win the championship throughout his career in history.

Players can eat all over the world with one trick, but coaches can't.

The Lakers also made persistent efforts and made another victory with 107 to 96, rewriting the big score to 3 to 1!

This time, the fans and the media are in the same direction: the Lakers advance to the finals, it is a certainty!

It's just that the stories are often attractive because their process is always twists and turns.

In the fifth game, the two sides came to Phoenix, and the Suns suddenly "resurrected" again.

But this time's rise has nothing to do with D'Antoni, but... a player of the Suns.

After playing two games in a row to make sure they couldn't play their best defensive counterattack, the Suns focused on playing positional battles with the Lakers!

That is, this game, this Suns team has refreshed many people's understanding of them.

Even though, the one who knew Sun Hao already knew it.

This Suns team can also play positional warfare, and they play very well!

You must know that in the 2006-2007 season in history, this complete Suns, played by Popovich can only use Horry to hit Nash to win the game.

And that season the Spurs returned to defensive play, focusing on positional warfare.

The fact that the Suns can force Popovich to that point already speaks volumes.

Now Stoudemire is not injured, this Sun is actually the same as that Sun.

Of course, the Lakers are not in vain in their positional battle.

The two teams entered the same tug-of-war as in the first game, and this tug-of-war lasted for the entire game.

At Phoenix's home court, luck was on the Suns' side.

At the last moment, Sun Hao hit consecutive three-pointers before the last shot, but the last ball went in and bounced out.

The Suns also relied on a more exciting way than the Eastern Conference finals to get back a victory, chasing the big score to 2 to 3.

This time, the series between the two sides also came to G6, which fans are familiar with.

For Lakers fans, this year is a bit different from last year.

Because there is no home court advantage, losing Game 6 means going to Phoenix for a tiebreaker.

In other words, this G6, they can't afford to lose.

(End of this chapter)