Legend of Tomorrow

? Even though Francis performed superbly in the third game and made 4 of 5 shots from beyond the three-point line, he just didn't let the game enter garbage time in the third quarter.

Yao Ming made 9 of 13 shots and scored 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists. He had the highest offensive efficiency, but he did not take as many shots per game as the two outside guards.

Guo Xu showed off his power this time, scoring a huge double-double with 44 points and 10 assists. The score was 111-96, and the Suns led 3-0.

Chinese fans who hoped to see a classic game between the Rockets and Suns were disappointed. The Rockets were unable to pose any threat to the Suns. They could not even score more than 100 points.

Although the Suns pay more attention to defense than the regular season, the key reason is Van Gundy's employment. He rotates 8 people in every game and uses two offensive routines, making it too easy for opponents to figure out.

Among the eight-man rotation, Maurice Taylor and Mark Jackson were still defensive black holes, and they were played by Guo Xu when they came on. Swingman Nahba is not as strong as Suns rookie Josh Howard, and his physical fitness is at a disadvantage.

In the first game, Van Gundy rotated with nine players, and he also gave Big Spoon Witherspoon 11 minutes of playing time. This eldest brother, who is 198cm tall and weighs nearly 125kg, looks like he just went for a walk to lose weight.

Some fans left a message after the game saying that the piece of meat on the back of his neck seemed delicious... What level is this?

In the fourth game, Van Gundy continued his twin-tower tactics, and his pick-and-roll defense was as bad as shit.

The Rockets' style of play is the same in every game, without any adjustments at all. Even the substitution time is almost the same. In fact, it is the same without Van Gundy. The players can rotate up and down according to the time.

This is why the Rockets led their opponents 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs twice during Van Gundy's coaching period and were then reversed. It was too easy for the opponent to make targeted adjustments.

The Suns led by 28 points in the first half and turned away from home. Throughout the second half, Guo Xu, Stoudemire, and Marion did not play again. They sat on the sidelines and watched their young teammates exercise.

Facing a lineup composed of Diop, Haslem, Howard, Joe Johnson, and Blake, the Rockets starters struggled for one quarter without taking any advantage, and Yao Ming, who was accurate in two games, also became ironclad.

On the verge of being eliminated, players' mentality is prone to problems. They are burdened with the mentality of wanting to win and fear of losing, and then perform abnormally. In Guo Xu's previous life, this kind of thing happened to the Rockets many times.

In 2004, they lost to the Lakers 78-97. In 2005, the Rockets lost to the Mavericks in the tiebreaker 76-116. In 2009, they lost to the Lakers 70-89 in the tiebreaker. They couldn't even score 80 points in the key game.

The Suns substitutes have no pressure.

With stars backing them up, they can perform boldly on both offense and defense without having to worry about losing. Their defense is not bad, they can both man-to-man and pick-and-roll defense. In the zone defense system, no matter which side Francis walked, he was double-teamed near the penalty area. He scored 21 points while shooting less than 40% from the field.

In the end, 102-78, the Suns easily swept the Rockets 4-0.

For the first time in his career, Francis was beaten by Guo Xu in the playoffs. He shot 39.6% from the field and 40% from three-point range in four games, but could only hit 1 goal. He scored 18 points, 8 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and made 4 eye-catching turnovers. .

Guo Xu had 30.5 points, 3 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals in four games, shooting 60% from the field and 47% from the three-point range.

At the post-game press conference, Van Gundy did not find a reason for the defeat and said frankly that he could not beat the Suns.

The Suns have outstanding players in every position. They are far better than the Rockets. They are likely to win the championship this year. Jason Guo's personal ability is very outstanding. We cannot limit him one-on-one. This is the reason why the Suns are strong.

Yao Ming attended the press conference and mentioned that Guo Xu had lingering fears. He is too fast. People say that being short is a disadvantage in basketball, but he turned his height into an advantage. It is impossible for big players to keep up with him. The nickname The Flash suits him so well.

Francis said: He caused us huge trouble. His defense is not as weak as people say. It is difficult for you to get rid of him. He is not afraid of confrontation and will keep entangled unless the Suns are too far ahead in that game. He didn’t take precautions seriously.”

After the game, the media reported on the game. Some fans on the Internet said that Francis expressed the thoughts of many point guards. Although the media never said that Guo Xu was a defensive expert, none of the point guards in the league said that his defense was poor.

Some fans said that it is not easy to name a few point guards who are better defensively than Guo Xu.

Jason's offense is so strong that it's easy for people to ignore his defense. In the 2001 Finals, he guarded Iverson, whose shooting percentage was less than 40%.

With explosiveness and jumping ability, he can win the slam dunk title. How can he be inferior in strength? He is an enhanced version of Allen Iverson.

Although Jason beat everyone, I don't believe he can make the best defensive team. The selection criteria are just like that. The Suns lost too many points.

I think the Lakers will also be swept against the Suns in the next round. Of course, the premise is that the Lakers get past the Grizzlies first.

The Lakers and Grizzlies were tied at 2-2, and the Suns were waiting for work, sitting on the mountain and watching the fight between tigers and tigers.

The strength of the Lakers is not as strong as the reputation of the players, and the strength of the Grizzlies is not as weak as the reputation of the players.

The Grizzlies not only have twin towers inside, Lorenzen White, but also a large array of swingmen Mike Miller, James Posey, and Mike Dunleavy. They can all shoot three-pointers. Posey is still the kind of defense that Kobe hates. people.

In Game 4, if Malone hadn't stepped up and hit two mid-range shots at a critical moment, the Lakers might have fallen behind 1-3.

Glove Payton suddenly became incapable of playing in the playoffs and had no advantage against White Chocolate Williams.

After the game, Phil Jackson, O'Neal, and Malone publicly stated that some people in the team were too independent, and the Lakers were about to have internal strife again, or that they had been in internal strife...

No one in the Grizzlies could guard O'Neal alone, but he took less than 15 shots in three games and was guarded to death.

Game 5 was held at the Grizzlies' home court. Kobe finally stopped playing one-on-one again and again. Posey, who was fast, good at one-on-one defense, had height and wingspan, began to cooperate with his teammates.

Kobe shot more than 20 shots a game with a 40% shooting rate, mainly two-pointers, leaving the two big insiders to watch. The Lakers are lucky to have won two games. They relied on the efficient performance of the two inside players with a shooting percentage of nearly 60% to lead the team out of the pit little by little.

Zen Master communicated with Kobe and told him that if he no longer had any brains to challenge him, he would let him know what I won't go to hell, you will go to hell.

If the fight continues like this, before the Zen Master comes forward, Malone will want to have a feud with Kobe.

Malone is the person who regrets the most in the Lakers. He gave up spending his whole life with the Jazz and gave up the beautiful talk of one man, one city. Could it be that he joined the Lakers just to tease Kobe's wife and watch Kobe hit the iron?

In this game, the Lakers returned to the old way of O'Neal attacking the low post and attacking from the inside out, which immediately made Gasol and Randolph exhausted on the defensive end. The little fat guy can't handle the big fat guy on his own defense. The coach lets Tsakalidis play to help, but it has no effect on the offensive end.

O'Neal attracted double teams in the low post and sent the ball out. His teammates' shooting percentage after receiving the ball improved and they blossomed more.

During the commentary, McBrin analyzed: It's not that Kobe is incapable, but the Grizzlies are very good at defending the perimeter and are afraid of low-post attacks. The Lakers made the right choice to let O'Neal focus on the offense.

98 to 90, the Lakers won the battle at Tianwangshan away from home and gained match point.

In Game 6, the Grizzlies had many young players and the shortcomings of unstable core performance emerged again. Gasol and Randolph hit the ground running. Although the swingmen performed well, the Grizzlies still lost 78-88.

The Lakers struggled to advance 4-2 in the first round and met the Suns in the second round.

No one is optimistic about the Lakers. They were swept by the Suns in the regular season...