Legend of Tomorrow

When the players came out to warm up, two CCTV5 commentators predicted the game.

Zhang Lili said: I think the Suns will win the championship this year. Their advantages are too great. They have the first player in NBA history, Guo Xu, three All-Stars, a terrifying lineup depth, and rich experience in the finals.

Yu Jia said: The Knicks really can't compare with the Suns. Only Stoudemire has experience in the finals. If they want to win, they can only rely on hard work.

The Knicks players are of course prepared to work hard, and no one wants to be a loser at this point. This is also a huge opportunity for them. To end the Suns' consecutive championship, the gold content will be very high.

Stoudemire, in particular, has a lot of ideas. If he leads the team to defeat the Suns and win the championship, his evaluation will be raised to a higher level. No one will say that he won the championship because of Guo Xu's thigh.

In 2006, Stoudemire was seriously injured and the Suns still won the championship. In 2008, Guo Xu injured his finger and lost the championship. Stoudemire was questioned. Although there is no shortage of honors, and he can rank among the top ten in the league in terms of annual total income, he still wants to further prove himself.

The starters from both sides stood on the court. Stoudemire said to Guo Xu: I don't think the Knicks will lose. Don't think about defeating me easily.

I know, but I just need to beat him easily. Guo Xu pointed at Felton, who was standing in the Knicks half court. This smile made Felton feel his scalp numb.

Before joining the Knicks, Felton was not qualified to be Guo Xu's opponent. He was just a role player in the Bobcats and Kings. Now he has to face the strongest point guard, and everyone knows that he is a problem.

Suns starting lineup: Guo Xu, Roy, Thompson, Ibaka, Gasol.

Knicks starting lineup: Felton, J.R. Smith, Gallinari, Stoudemire, Joakim Noah.

Noah won the jump ball and the game was on.

Felton and Stoudemire played a pick-and-roll outside the three-point line in the middle as usual. He took a step to the right and was double-teamed by Guo Xu and Ibaka.

Felton passed the ball to Stoudemire in the middle. Stoudemire hesitated after taking the ball. The chance to take action was fleeting, and Ibaka moved sideways in small steps to block him.

Stoudemire performed well from long range, averaging 1.4 shots per game in the playoffs and shooting 36.6% from the field. However, facing Ibaka and facing Boozer's defensive intensity are completely different concepts.

He took a dribble and passed it to Smith, who was receiving the ball.

The latter was followed by Roy and passed to Gallinari.

The Suns use a man-to-man tactic, giving Knicks players one-on-one opportunities. When all five players are difficult to pass, this basic tactic is very powerful.

The Knicks played very patiently and passed the ball several times. JR relied on Noah to cover and move to catch the ball and shoot a jumper. Under the interference of Gasol, he missed the ball and the rebound was grabbed by Guo Xu.

The Suns' focus has always been to strictly guard against the penalty area and three-pointers, and let their opponents make mid-range shots. Partnered with Ibaka, even Gasol can attack very far outside without fear of being passed.

The opponent's inside player's air cut is likely to be blocked by the retreating Ibaka. He is addicted to sneak attacks from the side and has a high success rate.

The Knicks return to defense very quickly and use man-to-man tactics. If they play a zone defense against the Suns, they will definitely die. No team will do this. The two stars can play singles from the side, and Gasol will pull up to the high post to provide support. There is no way to defend in a zone, it is all misplaced.

Man-to-man defense also has flaws. Guo Xu slips to the baseline and his teammates cover, and the weak side has an opportunity.

Felton followed up and was able to interfere with the three-pointer. Guo Xu feinted a shot from the baseline and took a step to the left, attracting Felton to move laterally and dribble behind his left hand toward the baseline, completely getting rid of the defense.

Noah let go of Gasol to cover up the defense. Guo Xu jumped up from the basket and passed the ball to the left side of Noah. Gasol didn't even jump when he caught the ball, he hit a rebound shot and scored. 2 to 0.

If Noah wants to defend this kind of ball, he must have three heads and six arms. Stoudemire followed Ibaka too far outside the penalty area and was unable to cover.

Even if Stoudemire has excellent defense awareness, Gasol can also pass the ball. This is the advantage of the supporting inside line.

The Knicks attacked. Felton played a pick-and-roll in the middle and then forced a breakthrough to the right, attracting Ibaka to switch defense and take a 45-degree pass to the middle to find Stoudemire who was cutting in the air.

Most of Felton's assists are obtained in this way. He doesn't need to have a good passing awareness. He just needs to find a fixed teammate to cooperate. For another team, it would be difficult for him to average more than 7 assists per game with his current passing awareness.

Guo Xu had already seen through Felton, and deliberately slowed down when pursuing the defense, allowing Felton to easily see Stoudemire's empty cut. After he turned around, Guo Xu suddenly accelerated and took a big step. Guo Xu didn't steal Felton's pass and stretched out his right hand to stab the basketball to the basket.

Gasol picked up the ball and had a very good passing awareness. He immediately found Guo Xu who turned around for a fast break and passed the ball long with one hand. Guo Xu received the ball with comfortable hands and turned around. With no one guarding him, he made an emergency stop in front of the three-point line in the middle and shot the ball hollowly into the net. 5 to 0.

Zhang Lili smiled and said: No one can defend and lead to the basket to shoot a three-pointer. Only Guo Xu can do this kind of thing, really score!

Yu Jia said: The fans who just turned on the TV to watch the live broadcast may think that the game is almost over when they see this scene. The sun is lagging behind. He played like this to save time.

In the Knicks' offense, Felton is not as comprehensive as Guo Xu. He is not good at adjusting his style of play. He only made it to the All-Star Game by hugging the thighs of insider stars. His shooting percentage is not high and he doesn't dare to play alone against Guo Xu.

He once again chose to play a pick-and-roll with Stoudemire in the middle. This time Guo Xu failed to steal the ball. Stoudemire was blocked by Gasol as soon as he received the ball.

Gasol's defensive awareness is very good. As soon as he saw Stoudemire cutting, he was ready to cover up the defense and let Noah go. Stoudemire did not pass the ball to Noah on the right because he knew that his partner had no shooting range and had to hit the basket to catch the ball.

It is obvious which one of Stoudemire or Noah is more efficient in attacking the basket in isolation, but this allows Gasol to take advantage of his strengths. He sticks to the body and uses his long arms to interfere, without jumping on his toes.

The two have been teammates for two years and often practice against each other. Stoudemire avoided the block and scored, but the defense was in place. 5 to 2.

When the Suns attacked, Guo Xu dribbled the ball past half-court, allowing his teammates to pull away, and he singled out Felton in the middle. He dribbled the ball under his crotch to his right hand, took a step to the left, took a step behind his left hand and dribbled to the right to pass Felton, and made a pull-up jumper inside the three-point line, 7-2.

Guo Xu rarely shoots two-pointers, but that doesn't mean he can't shoot. His open shot rate is extremely high. This distance is not convenient for Noah and Stoudemire to cover up. Once they come out, there will definitely be a big gap. Guo Xu can just pass the ball.

The Knicks attacked, and after several passes, Gallinari's emergency stop jumper missed due to interference from Thompson.

Gasol got the rebound and passed it to Roy, who passed it to Guo Xu on the other side for a 3-on-3 fast break in the frontcourt.

Guo Xubian took a step toward the center, slowed down one meter from the three-point line and dribbled the ball to his left hand. Seeing that Felton's center of gravity was too low to save, he stepped back with his left foot and shot a three-pointer.

Felton then stepped forward and jumped to interfere with the shot. He was too slow to even close his eye. Guo Xu had no pressure and had a perfect rhythm, and the ball hit the net hollowly. 10 to 2.

Zhang Lili said: Adelman is a coach who doesn't pay much attention to defense. He arranged to defend Guo Xu alone at the beginning. This is to let him get super high scores in the finals.

Yu Jia laughed and said: Felton's breakthrough speed is very fast. Some fans call him ball lightning, but his defense is average. Paul can't guard Guo Xu, let alone him?

Zhang Liji smiled and said: Compared with Guo Xu, who is nicknamed the Flash, Felton is just a sphere and has no lightning.