Reaching the finals in 2021 is no accident.
That's something the sun aspires to prove in 2022.
After beating the Clippers 106-89 and winning three straight games, the Suns improved their season record to 30-8, one win ahead of the Warriors and back in the league.
Such a team, in the first round of the newly released 2022 All-Star Vote, no one entered the Top Four of the Western Conference Backcourt and Frontcourt, and no one ranked in the top five in the latest NBA official MVP competition list.
Last season's Western Conference champion, this season's league number one, is this treatment.
How do you measure whether a team is a strong team? First of all, we must look at the level of abuse, simply put, in the face of weakness, we must be stable, don't be with anyone to rectify the situation of five or five, the sun is the first-class abuse of dishes.
The Suns have been in trouble lately, they've been hit by a wave of the pandemic, and while Ayton, McGee and Crowder have lifted their health and safety agreements, they still need to get back to state, and Shamet is still in quarantine. The Suns, whose lineup is somewhat "crippled", have won three consecutive wins and won an average of 21 points per game.
The three opponents in a three-game winning streak, the Hornets, pelicans and Clippers, the Pelicans are weak brigades, the Hornets and Clippers are not so weak, but they are not strong enough, the Hornets defense is too poor, the Clippers are full of wounded troops, although the Sun is a remnant, playing this kind of opponent is still holding hands.
The stability of the Sun lies in the stability of the system based on the stability of the personnel, and unlike the Lakers who love the lineup splitting game, the Sun retained the core lineup that dominated the West last season in the offseason, the configuration has not changed significantly, and the chemical reaction that has been formed is there, and both offense and defense can achieve fluency.
The Suns' offense has no obvious dead ends that can be used by opponents, blocking and dismantling the basket, mid-range jump shots, three-point ball bombardment, the Suns have corresponding fire points, Paul is centered, the key balls are performed by Paul and Booker, the Suns are neatly staffed, and the flaws on the offensive end are not easy to find.
The defensive end is also like this, there is individual pressure on the outside line, there is a co-protective basket on the inside line, and it is quite difficult for the opponent to grasp the soft ribs to target.
However, the sun is not invulnerable, they have a high lower limit, but what about the upper limit?
Playing the Clippers this ball, when the Clippers in the fourth quarter to use a small lineup, the defensive mobility and aggressiveness to the full extent of their ability, the Sun once fell into a struggle, there is a slack after the lead, but it is also the inherent stubborn disease of the Sun, when the game enters a high-intensity confrontation, how to force the "solution"?
The sun's answer this time is that Paul uses the projection and organization of key moments to solve the problem, CP3 can kill such a game, but if the game is pulled to the high end, such as the 2021 Finals Bucks' kind of defense, Holliday around the cover like a shadow, Big Luo crouched under the basket big delay, alphabet brother covered half-court defensive sweep, can Paul still respond so strongly?
Not to mention the Bucks and Nets in the East, in terms of the Western Breakout alone, the Suns have won 1 and lost 2 against the Warriors this season, and Klay Thompson is about to make a comeback. In fact, there is no need to take out the Warriors, the Lakers who have become "happy comedians" this season, if Old Zhan continues to maintain the current combat output, the thick eyebrow brother is in place after his comeback, is the Sun sure to win the Lakers in the playoff series?
The short board of the sun, in the final analysis, is the talent ceiling, how to solve the problem of strong point blasting. Think about the alphabet brother of last season's finals, the sun is probably still bottomless in his heart.
However, at least in the regular season, the first is the Sun now, and as for the playoffs, it is far from the time to draw conclusions.
As, who would have thought the Suns would make it to the Finals last season?