Legend of Tomorrow

At the beginning of the game, the Suns let fans clearly see what the West is strong and the East is weak. Putting aside Guo Xu's personal ability, the Eastern Conference teams cannot compare with the Suns. None of them have such a strong ability to defend the pick-and-roll. .

Felton was very enthusiastic about Boozer in the last round. The Cavaliers had to use zone defense tactics to shrink the penalty area and let the Knicks take long-range shots. Other players also performed well.

Playing like this against the Suns didn't work. After Felton started the pick-and-roll, he faced Ibaka, who was on defense. He couldn't get rid of it immediately by relying on his speed. He couldn't complete the pass for a second, and Guo Xu bypassed the cover and caught up. It was difficult for him to get an easy shot.

Felton knew he was finished after a few rounds. His height of 185cm had no advantage against Guo Xu, his speed was not as fast as Guo Xu's, and even the strength he was proud of could not withstand Guo Xu. It was obvious that he was a bit bigger and his back was round, but Guo Xu was able to fight against him.

After passing the ball to his teammates, Felton couldn't help but wonder: Could this guy have a mechanical skeleton in his body? He is actually a robot. Otherwise, how could he be so powerful?

Felton and Paul entered the NBA in the 2005 draft at the same time, and they often competed against each other in college. He can best appreciate how strong Guo Xu's defensive ability is, and he is more difficult to deal with than Paul.

The Knicks almost ran out of 24 seconds, Gallinari singled out Thompson and scored in the mid-range shot, 10 to 4.

The players got stuck in isolations, which was not the Princeton routine Coach Adelman wanted.

In the Knicks' previous offensive system, there were various tricks such as sudden points from guards, cuts inside, Noah's high post support, etc. Several people constantly shared the ball. Now, no matter how many times the players pass the ball, it will all end in singles. In addition to Guo Xu, the other four Suns players can switch defenses unlimitedly.

When the Suns attacked, Guo Xu first passed the ball to Roy, then ran to the weak side to catch the ball and got a singles opportunity.

Smith left Thompson to double-team Guo Xu. Adelman did not arrange it. It was the players' spontaneous adjustment. If he doesn't double-team Guo Xu, he will go crazy. Smith doesn't want to see Guo Xu score super high points in the finals and lead the team to win. No one wants to be the backdrop for the other side's record-breaking performance.

Guo Xu took advantage of the situation and passed the ball to the left corner. Thompson caught the ball and quickly shot the ball into the net. 13 to 4.

Adelman requested a timeout. The team must strengthen its defense, and the offense was not going smoothly.

Double-teaming Guo Xu is necessary, but do you still want to win if you leave Thompson short? The difficulty is about the same as going to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, ninety-nine or eighty-one times difficult.

After entering the playoffs, Thompson's playing time increased to 31 minutes.

The three-point shooting rate was 42.5%, 2.7 field goals were made, the overall shooting rate was 47%, and the data was 16.6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

When Guo Xu started to work hard in the playoffs, Thompson's tactics benefited and he often got easy shooting opportunities.

Because Thompson's shooting is more stable, D'Antoni likes to let Roy stay on the other side and let Thompson and Guo Xu cooperate on one side. If the opponent has ordinary players guarding Roy, he can also hold the ball in singles.

After the timeout, Adelman replaced Gallinari and sent in Gordon Hayward, who is faster and more accurate in shooting. The second-year player also has good passing ability.

In the parallel world, Hayward in the future is the big pit that destroys the Celtics, but now he is a potential newcomer with all-round skills.

The problem of the Knicks' players' inexperience began to show. Felton continued to push the position and the pace was very slow. Once the Knicks were in position, the Knicks' adjustments were useless. As long as the Suns' two defensive insiders were in position, the defense in the penalty area was impregnable.

After passing the ball several times, Stoudemire's three-point jumper missed the basket, and Gasol grabbed the rebound.

In the Suns' position battle, Guo Xu was double-teamed as soon as the half was over and passed to Roy. Roy was responsible for the organization, and Guo Xu and Thompson began to run under the cover of their teammates inside.

Guo Xu caught the ball on the right side and once again attracted a double-team. He moved laterally and passed the ball to Gasol in the low post on the right. Noah let Ibaka open to cover and withstood Gasol at the basket.

Gasol turned around and quickly moved the ball 45 degrees to the left with one hand. Ibaka made an open mid-range shot and hit the net hollowly. 15 to 4.

Stoudemire looked at the unstoppable offense of the Suns and felt that he had thought too much before the game. It was impossible for the Knicks to defeat the Suns. Except for his slight advantage against Ibaka, he was at a disadvantage in other positions.

The two sides battled 40 to 20 in the first quarter, and the Suns created many easy shooting opportunities, with all five starting players scoring.

Guo Xu made 4 of 5 shots, 3 of 4 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 13 points and 5 assists.

Thompson made 3 of 4 shots, 2 of 3 three-pointers, and scored 8 points; Ibaka made 4 of 4 shots and scored 8 points.

Yu Jia commented: The Suns' offense is so smooth. Four people can share the ball selflessly. Only Ibaka's passing is worse. When the ball reaches his hands, he ends the offense. His mid-range shot is very accurate.

Zhang Lijia smiled and said: He is often open, so there is no way he can't miss it. No matter what position he plays next to Guo Xu, the inside players will soon gain confidence.

In the second quarter, Adelman boldly deployed a two-back tactic to grab points. Felton, who rested for 5 minutes in the first quarter, was on the court with Darren Collison, who was traded from the Hornets in the mid-term.

Collison is 183cm tall and weighs 79kg. Defense is not within Adelman's consideration. He is a strong man who dares to let Brooks and Lowry play together. He firmly believes that Felton's guest appearance at the 2 position can restrict Roy.

However, it didn't work. Roy singled out Felton and scored consecutively, playing casually without double-teaming, and soon widened the point difference to 28 points, and suspended the Knicks again.

Felton was so confused by the mismatch that he suspected that the head coach had a grudge against him and did not want him to get a big contract in the summer, so as long as he was on the court, he was allowed to defend the opponent's strongest scoring point.

Felton didn't even hear the tactics the coach said clearly on the sidelines, and was only thinking about one question in his mind.

Isn’t this torture? I wasn't selected to the All-Defensive Team. It wasn't my job when I was in Bobcats.

Unknowingly, the timeout ended and Felton returned to the court and continued to be beaten.

Fortunately, Felton was relieved in the second half, because the score difference between the two sides increased to more than 30 points and entered garbage time. Guo Xu was already drinking on the sidelines as a spectator, and he did not have to go on the court to suffer.

The Knicks' bench strength is not weak, with Collison, Fields, Hayward, Brandon White, and Aaron Gray.

The Knicks' bench against other teams can definitely be called bench gangsters, but it was unable to cope with the Suns and was beaten in garbage time.

Marginal players like Whiteside are enough for the Knicks. He can cut and catch the ball in pick-and-rolls and then charge for dunks. The two-guard team consisting of Thomas Jr. and Jeremy Lin broke through sharply, and the blue-collar man Gray wanted to give up basketball and become an intern in the hospital.

At the end of the game, 134 to 88, the Suns won by 46 points.

With such a score difference in the first game, how could there be any suspense in the finals? People overwhelmingly began to discuss that the Suns were about to win their fourth consecutive championship.

After two games at the New York home court, David Stern increased the strength of the Knicks' home and star whistles, allowing them to get a lot of free throws.

But it was useless. The Suns' offense could not be limited by the home whistle, unless Felton and Collison could get started with Guo Xu and pull people without fouling. Unfortunately, their defensive abilities were average.

Guo Xu, who felt good, hit 9 three-pointers in the third game, including 5 in the third quarter, leading the team to a 3-0 lead to seal the victory.

In the fourth game, Guo Xu generally started to break through and distribute the ball again. He always had a way to get past the two point guards and launch a counterattack. He is more flexible than Felton and stronger than Collison.

After defeating the Knicks 114-97, the Suns completed a sweep on the road and successfully defended their title.