Legend of Tomorrow

Guo Xu was completely confident during the regular season. He said that winning the championship this season was not nonsense. It was really possible. Because in the regular season he scored very efficiently against guards such as Nash, Parker, and Bibby, the Suns have the ability to challenge all teams!

In the second half of the first quarter, the Suns dominated the Mavericks, using only two simple routines. One was Guo Xu singled out Nash, and the other was Guo Xu passed the ball to Joe Johnson, who relied on Stoudemire to run without the ball and catch the ball. He took a shot, but without the opportunity to take a shot directly, he attracted a switch of defense or chased the dribble to find an opening and passed it to Stoudemire who was cutting through the air.

Both of the Mavericks' defensive weaknesses were exploited by the Suns. Nash couldn't block Guo Xu, so he could only interfere as much as possible. Van Exel is shorter than Nash, so it is difficult to chase Joe Johnson and interfere with shooting. When the defense changes inside, he has poor confrontation and cannot stop Stoudemire from cutting.

The Mavericks could only compete offensively with the Suns. With the opponent's three forwards actively switching defenses, they still focused on singles.

The Suns led 34 to 23 in the first quarter. Guo Xu scored 11 points and 4 assists, better than Nash's 7 points and 3 assists.

Guo Xu took a break in the second quarter. The Suns' common rotation after entering the playoffs was to let him rest for a few minutes in the second quarter, and then play the rest of the time until the end of the game as long as the score difference was not big.

The substitutes of the two teams competed and were evenly matched.

The Mavericks have a strong lineup, led by Van Exel and Finley. Swingman Lagar Bell and power forward Walter Williams can shoot three-pointers. The only weakness is center Big Bamboo Rod Brad. profit.

The Suns' rotation is also good, with Alston, Kirisek, Jakobsson, Kukoc, and Nene. The tactics are the same as in the first quarter. Four people can shoot three-pointers.

The Suns mainly rely on the rotation of these ten players. Veterans Gugliotta and Scott Williams are marginal players. Maurice Evans is responsible for guarding the water dispenser. Unless there is no one available due to injury, he will not There is a chance to play.

In the second half of the second quarter, the two sides successively sent their main players. Nowitzki scored consecutively. At the end of the half, the Suns only led by 1 point.

At this time, the Suns coaching staff discovered that it was not a good idea for Nene and Stoudemire to play together. The two of them were less effective at defending Nowitzki alone than Haslem. They were taller and could not block shots, and they were easy to encounter. After the pick-and-roll, he was passed by the defender.

Defense must be strengthened in the playoffs. Guo Xu's proposal to bring Haslem last summer was so critical.

Haslem, who rested for the entire quarter in the second half, played again and was better in both individual defense against Nowitzki and pick-and-roll defense.

Without a quality superman, the Suns can still open up the situation on the offensive end, which is the way they play in the first quarter. Guo Xu and Joe Johnson are the main attackers in the position battle.

During the counterattack, several people fell quickly. Guo Xu launched a counterattack, and whoever had the chance would shoot.

The Mavericks were able to defend against the Lakers because the OK combination rarely used pick-and-roll cooperation, and the role players did not get the ball and had no chance to hold the ball and misplace Van Exel in isolation.

Now under the organization of Guo Xu, as long as the Mavericks dare to send two defenders, they will immediately grab the two defenders and fight endlessly. In positional battles, they will attack the two defenders, bypass others, and share the ball when encountering double teams.

At the end of the three quarters, the Suns led 97 to 78 by 19 points.

At the beginning of the last quarter, Guo Xu, Marion, and Nene continued to lead the team. Kukoc and Kirisek came up to play for a while. Although the defense was slightly inferior, they relied on offense to continue to suppress the Mavericks. As big as 26 points.

Zhang Lili commented: After entering the playoffs, Alston's playing time has been shortened, and the Suns do not use two guards very much. Now their defense is much better than in the regular season.

Xu Jicheng said: Van Exel averaged 20 points per game in the last series, but today he failed to fire against the Suns and became a defensive vulnerability. If Nelson uses Bell, Griffin, and Najera, The offense will be worse again, and it will be difficult for the Mavericks to adjust.

Zhang Lijia said with a smile: O'Neal said at the press conference that he was optimistic about the Suns advancing, and he really hit the mark. With Guo Xu here, the Suns' offense was very reasonable. Kobe couldn't do it, so he just threw in front of people.

Guo Xu triggered a huge butterfly effect, and the famous commentator Weiping Bryant became Weiping Guo. Record and data determine everything, which is very reasonable.

The Mavericks could not catch up with the score and the game entered garbage time early. Guo Xu was replaced with three minutes left. His data was fixed at 27 points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists, 9 of 15 shots, 4 of 9 three-pointers, and 6 free throws. Hit 5.

Six members of the Suns team scored in double figures, including Stoudemire with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists, Joe Johnson with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and Marion with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists.

Three people on the Mavericks team scored 20+ points, but Nash, who scored the most, only had 22 points and 7 assists. Finley and Nowitzki both scored 20 points. Just like the previous two seasons against the Lakers, the two teams fought hard to attack, and the Mavericks lost with dignity.

In the end, the Suns got off to a good start with a score of 124-106.

After the game, the two teams were interviewed by the media. When commenting on the game, Mavericks coach Nelson praised both his disciple and Guo Xu.

Steve is outstanding. He is a star point guard. We lost because Jason is the strongest guard in the NBA. He always makes the right choices on the court. Not only can he score, but he also makes his teammates better. Even better. I think the rookies who just entered the league are lucky to play next to Jason. He is an MVP-level star and is very selfless.

The reporter asked: Do you think using two guards for a long time was the reason for the Mavericks' defeat in this game?

Old Nelson shook his head and said: No, if we want to win we need Van Exel to attack. He is the team's important sixth man. No one is more suitable than him to lead the bench.

If the Mavericks' sixth man is a pure shooting guard, they have a great chance of winning the championship this year. Unfortunately, the lineup is not so perfect. The Mavericks' offense has indeed strengthened after trading for Van Exel, but there are major flaws on the defensive end. .

This cannot be said to be a failure of the Mavericks management. The chips they sent out at that time were not outstanding. Juwan Howard's high-paying long-term contract has become a famously bad contract in the league. If you can exchange for useful people, you will make money.

D'Antoni was interviewed and said modestly: This is only the first game. It's too early to say promotion, but we don't have any pressure. Before coming to Dallas, our goal was to win an away game. The Mavericks lost their home court advantage. It’s already very good for the sun.”

When Guo Xu expressed his feelings, he directly said that the Suns would eliminate the Mavericks. He was not as low-key as the coach.

We will definitely advance to the Western Conference Finals. I have confidence in myself and my teammates. Our momentum can make up for our lack of experience. We are strong!

Guo Xu's confidence was actually given by Nelson. After only playing one game, he could be sure that Nelson remained the same as before, just attacking. If the Mavericks didn't play well in a certain period, he would make adjustments on the offensive end. , never considering both defense and defense.

Teams that compete offensively with the Suns in the regular season basically end up poorly. If you want to win against the Suns, the best way is to slow down the tempo to slowly grind out the position, ensure the success rate of the offense, and at the same time quickly return to defense to ensure defense and disrupt the Suns. Fast attack rhythm, only in this way can we have a chance of winning.

The Suns are the strongest in fast breaks. Once the opponent returns to defense quickly enough, the hit rate of the 7-second run and gun is not high, which will cause trouble. The Mavericks' double guard is equivalent to letting the Suns counterattack at will. Today, Joe Johnson and Marion faced Nash in multiple rounds and forced layups. This kind of mismatch can only lead to fouls and cannot be defended alone.

Nelson's extreme coaching style doomed the Mavericks to failure...

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