On January 25, Beijing time, the NBA regular season went on normally. The Phoenix Suns host the Jazz, a game that would have been a tug-of-war. However, with the Jazz missing core players such as Mitchell, Conley, Gobert, Bojan, Ingles and Reus O'Neal, the Suns have a bigger chance of winning.
The end result? Indeed, as expected, the Suns won 115-109 with a 6-point win. In this game, the Jazz were all soldiers, with a total of 7 people scoring in double figures, but they could not resist the excellent play of Paul + Booker. Booker was heroic in the first three quarters, scoring 33 points. The last quarter was Paul's performance moment, scoring 15 points, 3 boards, 3 assists and 1 break on 5-of-7, laying the foundation for the victory of the game in one fell swoop. 22 minutes, 22 plates and 3 caps, the new inner line of the sun is baked! Ayton's maximum salary is completely out of the game, and Paul is the first in the league.
22 minutes, 22 plates and 3 caps, the sun new inner line is baked
This season's Suns are a team with a balanced attack and defense, both inside and outside. In addition to the play of Paul and Booker, the 2 interior lines are also dedicated and play well. Starting center McGee played 16 minutes and 44 seconds, shooting 3-of-6, with 6 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, plus-minus +5. Bench center Bie Yongbo played 31 minutes and 16 seconds, shooting 7-of-10 from the field, with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 1 block. The scariest thing was that the two men grabbed 9 offensive rebounds, and the Jazz only had 7 offensive rebounds in the team.
The two cut 22 points, 22 boards and 3 blocks together, making the Sun's inner line impregnable. Even without Ayton, this new interior combination is enough to help Paul and Booker hao win a seven-game winning streak, 3.5 wins ahead of the Warriors, ranking first in the league. Biyongbo is a player that the Suns "picked up", and who knows how powerful it will be. Played in 9 games for the Suns, averaging 10.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 blocks per game, shooting 70.2%.
Ayton's maximum salary is completely out of the picture
McKee and Billy Bienbo are both veterans on basic salary contracts, and the two together are $4 million. Paul is a legendary master of ball possession, and under his leadership, any inside player can play explosive stats. Recently, Ayton has been suspended for many games due to injury, but the Suns' record has not been affected. Last summer, Ayton had a bad time with Sun management, who was reluctant to offer a maximum salary contract extension.
As a result, Ayton did not change his principles, and thus remained deadlocked. I thought the Suns would be soft, who knew that the big explosion of McGee and Biyombo made the management firmly determined: it would not give Ayton a maximum salary extension, and if he did not want to, then choose to trade him. Since the team does not have enough salary space, it is necessary to renew the contract of 3D striker Cameron Johnson this summer, and some sacrifices must be made.
Paul League Number One
After beating the Jazz, the Suns continue to rank first in the league. With 14 assists, Paul averaged 10.1 assists per game, beating Harden and returning to the first place in the league's assists list. Meanwhile, after this game, Paul's double-double for scoring and assisting for the 22nd time this season surpassed Trae Young (21) and tied Harden for the league. There is also a statistic, Paul is also the first in the league, that is, the average number of steals per game, which is currently 2.
First in the league, first in the league in assists, first in the steals league, Paul is ranked 5th in the latest issue of the MVP list, and the Suns this season are still the biggest contenders for the championship.