Not only to crush the opponent in the score, but also to destroy the opponent psychologically, which is what the Sun did against the Hornets.
133-99, the point difference is already very brutal, but the scene is more ferocious.
Biyongbo buckles the basket.
Jaylen Smith forced Plumlee.
Such a game, murderous, wasp boss in tears,
"We'll play better at Charlotte." Booker said before the game.
Booker was cheering the team on, and the Suns suffered the second low of the season before away to the Hornets, losing 3 of 4 games, and they also suffered a wave of 1 wins and 3 losses at the beginning of the season, and then blasted 25 wins and 2 losses, once leading the league.
The Suns' recent poor record, the direct reason is the lack of major generals, when the epidemic ravaged the league, the Suns have maintained zero isolation, the US media also published a special article to analyze how Paul led his teammates to do a good job in epidemic prevention, the result is to feed the Sun a mouthful of poisonous milk, Ayton, Crowder and McGee have triggered health and safety agreements, head coach Monty Williams has also been isolated, plus injured Saric and Kaminsky, the Suns are stretched in front of the field.
The Suns and Hornets played once on Dec. 20, and the Suns fired 137 points and 20 three-pointers, the highest of the season, winning the Hornets by 31 points. In that "massacre", Ayton, McGee and Crowder were all there, Ayton had 15 points and 15 rebounds, McGee contributed 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting, Crowder made 3 of 4 three-pointers, and the trio in the frontcourt beat the Hornets to lose their armor.
This time to fight again, these three can not go up, the sun to do?
The Suns scored 73 points in the first half, tie their first-half scoring record for the season and lead by 26 points at halftime. The Suns are still playing, Booker scored 14 points in the first quarter, Paul only shot twice in the first two quarters, but sent 10 assists, shot 6 assists and 16 times only 1 mistake, leading the team to full firepower, directly playing the game, and finally won 34 points, more brutal than the last time.
The Suns play the Hornets this kind of team clutch, because the Hornets are too extreme, this team offensive efficiency league second, defensive efficiency 28th, offensive end of the bull, defensive end of the dish too dish, and the Sun abuse dish ten to nine stable.
The lower limit of normal play is the most stable, which is the characteristic of the Suns this season, they retain the core lineup that reached the finals last season, there is enough tacit understanding between the players, and the offensive and defensive system runs smoothly.
The suns on the offensive end typically triple threat, the middle of the road to break down the pie, the middle jumper, the flank or bottom corner three-pointer, Paul through the needle lead, teammates hands non-stick ball non-stop, the offensive area can not be caught by the opponent dead end.
Defensive suns, Paul, Bridges and Crowder cover the backcourt to the front one-on-one, Ayton is responsible for guarding the basket and dealing with the blocking and dismantling roll call, he has both height and agility, the Suns' co-defense and pinch in place rate is also quite high, and like their offense, the Suns' defense is also a personal integration into the team, there is no obvious dead end.
Does this mean that the sun intact (Ayton, McGee, Claude unsealed) is invincible?
Not. The Suns have exposed their weaknesses last season, and they are afraid of the single point explosion of the talent, especially the number four position, such as the thick eyebrow brother before the first round of the playoffs was not injured, and the alphabet brother in the finals.
The sun's lower limit is very high, but their upper limit is a bit confusing, the core trio of this team Paul and Ayton have their own problems, Paul's physical condition will be limited in the high-end round, the Bucks gave Big Luo crouching under the basket in the Finals, alphabet brother assisted in the defense sweep, Holliday's tightly chased defensive strategy, limiting Paul's play.
Ayton is a pie-eater, but his ball-handling offensive ability is weaker than the All-Star interior and is slightly softer defensively when he encounters a bigger man with better physical talent.
The characteristics of the Suns determine that they play the Hornets, an opponent who plays one by one, but against the same team that is also the champion level, the grasp is not easy to say. The Bucks and Nets are far away in the East, and as far as the West Scramble is concerned, solar energy can't pass the warriors who are about to usher in Klay Thompson?
The Suns have played 3 games with the Warriors this season, 1 win and 2 losses, the one that won, Bridges and Ayton chased and blocked Curry to 4 of 21, the two games that were lost, Curry shot 18 of 47, shooting 38% of the time, the efficiency is not high, but the Suns are caught by the Warriors' auxiliary players, especially the year-end war, Peyton Jr., Potter and Cuminga took turns to impact, playing the Suns a surprise.
The Warriors don't have big guys like thick eyebrows or letters, Wiseman still needs time to grow, and they are not very able to configure a relatively thin short board for the Suns' four position, but the Warriors have projection in the backcourt, and the flanks have physical talent and impact, all in all, the team aggressiveness based on Curry.
This aggressiveness may be further strengthened with clay's return, theoretically, clay can bring offensive space and defense one-on-one, as well as the spiritual attribute of "G6 soup", the warrior's death five will be very scary.
However, Clay injured his knee first, injured his Achilles tendon later, had not played for two and a half years, was 29 when he was injured, and was almost 32 when he came back, and it is difficult to say what level of combat strength can be restored, especially defensively.
Both the Sun and the Warriors have the question of how to raise the ceiling, the Warriors have the hope point of Clay, and the Sun's internal excavation may be in Smith and Billynbo.
Smith's 19 points and 12 rebounds, compared to Yongbo's 11 points and 6 rebounds, may be more gratifying than the 34 points victory over the Hornets, although the Hornets' defense gives the opportunity, but seizing the opportunity is also a skill, the Suns need talent too much, especially the big man with a tough style.