In the early morning of December 13, Beijing time, the Suns welcomed the Western rivals Warriors at home. There are a lot of highlights in this game: it may be the first time that the Suns' new Big Three have made their combined appearance, Durant and his former club Paul have played each other for the first time, the Warriors are coming, and the little CP3 is coming back. One topic alone is eye-catching.
Before the game, the Suns coach released a blockbuster news - the "bluff" in Sun Tzu's Art of War has finally come true, Kevin Durant will fight side by side with his new partners Devin Booker and Chris Paul for the first time, and the triumvirate is completed!
As soon as the news came out, the fans reached their peak. The season has not been off to a rough start for the Suns, and the team's run-in period has clearly exceeded expectations. Everyone is looking forward to the moment when the Big Three will come together and hope that they can make an immediate difference to the team.
However, the good times were short-lived. Durant sprained his left ankle during the warm-up and had to be declared sidelined for this game.
Woo woo woo triumvirate is a dream after all, break up brothers!That's what some Suns fans say.
But even if the big boss is not there, Devin Booker and Chris Paul are definitely a strong combination. Under their leadership, will the Suns be able to pull back a game and defeat their Western rivals?
The first quarter was tied, the midfield was behind, and the Suns rose.
As soon as the game started, the Suns were in Bradley Beal (damn it, it's back again!).and Okogie led a 7-0 attack wave. The Warriors relied on Andrew Wiggins to stop the bleeding with a three-pointer, and then both sides made indiscriminate three-pointers without missing shots. The first quarter was tied at 25.
It can be seen that the styles of the eastern and western teams are very different. The Suns are more focused on interior dominance, while the Warriors prefer positional basketball and no missed shots.
In the second quarter, the Warriors fought back. They went on a 10-0 run to take a double-digit lead. Suns boss Booker and new signing Okogie led the team to stop the bleeding. At the end of the first half, the Warriors led by three points at 56-53.
The Warriors built their advantage with three-pointers, while the Suns dominated the interior. The two teams come and go, and the battle is fierce.
At the beginning of the second half, the style of painting changed abruptly. The originally silent Suns substitutes suddenly broke out!Ronnie Starks, Beasley and other young players led the Suns to a 12-2 attack wave in one fell swoop to complete the comeback!
The Suns coach clearly made a decisive change in midfield. The substitutes were full of energy and injected fresh blood into the team.
Booker reproduced the MVP style, and the Suns narrowly won.
In Durant's absence, Booker once again played MVP style. He shot 13-of-23, 3-of-6 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, and finished with 32 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds to lead the team to defeat a sworn enemy.
In the face of sworn enemies and the team's back-to-back battle, Devin Booker really lived up to expectations. He stepped up and pushed the team to complete the comeback.
On the Warriors' side, 24 points were slashed, Baum 20+11, Paul 15 points and 11 assists, and the performance was average. Klay Thompson, on the other hand, was even more sluggish, making only 2 of 10 shots and scoring only 7 points in the game. The advantage in the first half was eroded, and several attempts to launch counterattacks failed.
In the final moments of the game, the Warriors were only 3 points behind, and the team was in a three-point game. The Suns narrowly defeated the Warriors 119-116 to complete a three-game winning streak against their sworn foe.
Can the Grizzlies' resurgence affect the championship schedule?
After this game, the Suns and Warriors have a record of 13-10 and 10-13, respectively. Two Western teams, which were strong teams last year, have fallen into a slump this year.
So the question is: has the decline of these two old enemies created an opportunity for other rising stars?
The current top of the West has been occupied by rookie teams. Grizzlies, Aces, and Cavaliers are emerging powers in the West. It remains to be seen whether these teams have the quality to influence the championship schedule.