Preface.
The Suns' performance this season has really hit rock bottom!I thought that they could become the championship favorites this season with the super 3 of Durant + Booker + Beal, but I didn't expect that until now, they have only achieved a 14-15 record, ranking 11th in the West, not to mention the championship, and the playoffs are hanging!
The Suns are likely not to make the playoffs, which would have been a joke before the season, but now, it is close to becoming a reality, no one can save the Suns, the Suns can only save themselves.
The Suns are not doing well, the team has big problems both offensively and defensively, and Beal is still stuck in injuries and can't extricate himself!But fortunately, the two superstars of Durant and Booker are healthy, although the team is in trouble, but with the two of them, they still have infinite possibilities, but what they have to do now is to find their form, and they really can't lose easily.
After 3 consecutive losses, the Suns faced the Rockets, which was also a tough test for them!The Rockets previously had a 15-13 record and ranked 8th in the West, and as a team that has just risen this season, the Rockets have shown strong firepower and have a great chance against the Suns!However, this game is a back-to-back game for the Rockets, and they lost to the Pacers in the last game, and they are obviously at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of morale and condition.
The strength of the two teams is close, and the outcome of the game is still full of unknowns!At the beginning, VanVleet showed a good offensive momentum, scoring points inside and outside, Gordon and Booker teamed up to respond, and the scores of the two teams rose alternately!In the tug-of-war, the Rockets' offense suddenly came to a standstill, and Allen and Gordon took advantage of the chaos to lead the team to play a wave of offensive climax, directly opening up a 6-point gap!
The 2 teams continued to bombard each other in the second quarter, but Gordon became a wonder soldier, the Rockets veteran was full of firepower from the outside, 5 of 6 in a single quarter, 17 points, Durant also sent 7 assists, and under the leadership of 2 people, the Suns scored 43 points in a single quarter, and extended the advantage to 18 points at halftime.
Trailing by 18 points at halftime, the Rockets were pushed to the edge of a cliff and the team needed to respond in the second half!Shen Jing relied on his height and shooting advantage to score points in the second half, Green and Holiday helped each other, but Durant and Booker were not to be outdone, and responded frequently, always maintaining an advantage of about 10 points!
Then the Rockets' offense was dumb again, and the Suns played a 12-4 offensive run to open a 20-point gap in one fell swoop!In the final quarter, the Rockets tried to continue to catch up, but the team did not take advantage of both offensive and defensive ends, and the point difference remained at about 20 points without narrowing, and the Rockets had no choice but to take the lead in sending substitute players and announcing the surrender of the game, and finally the Suns defeated the Rockets 129-113, ending a three-game losing streak.
With a 16-point victory over the Rockets, the Suns stopped the team's decline and won the Rockets smoothly under a huge predicament!The Suns can win this game, Durant is definitely the top priority, in the face of the Rockets, Durant completely opened, he scored 27 points in 9 of 16, and grabbed 10 rebounds, and more importantly, Durant sent 16 assists, in the case of the Suns' lack of reasonable offense, he sorted out the Suns' offense all over the court, activated the whole team, and led the team to victory!
In addition, Gordon also performed very well, scoring 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, especially the explosion in the second quarter, which opened up the gap for the Suns in one fell swoop, and Booker was 20 points and 7 assists.
Winning the Rockets is just an ordinary regular season win for fans, but for the Suns, it's a big step forward for the team to get out of the quagmire!
Needless to say, the strength and potential of the Suns are very strong!However, their technical and tactical coordination, offensive and defensive performances are very poor, which makes them perform poorly!But in this game with the Rockets, it can be seen that the Suns have changed, whether it is Durant or Booker, they have good organizational skills, the team can improve their offense, and then through some small transactions, to supplement the defense, they still have a lot to do, although the current record is not good, but entering the playoffs, it is not too much of a problem.