This season, under the leadership of Paul and Cook, the Phoenix Suns rose from the fish-belly team to the second place in the West, and it was very tempting for Paul to go further, but the result was still difficult to escape the fate of being black 7 by the Lakers.
In the regular season, the two teams met three times, and the Suns had the upper hand with two wins and one loss, but the two games they lost were not fully assembled Lakers, and the Lakers' front and interior lines were still irresistible to the Suns.
In the first meeting between the two teams, James played 38 minutes, 16 of 24 shots to get 38 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, davis also handed over 42 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks in the final game between the two teams. Although the Suns have ranked sixth in the league in defensive percentage this season, they still can't limit the Jandai duo in the forward position.
As for the interior line, the Lakers have a board-grabbing Zhuang Shen, a harrell who can jump, and Gasol Jr., who can score three points, in contrast, the Suns, although there are Ayton and Kaminsky and Sharich, Ayton's softness is recognized, in a competition in the regular season, it is limited to only 6 points and 6 rebounds, as for Kaminsky, although there are a good three-pointer, but as for Saric, it is not physically confrontational, and it is difficult to block the Lakers' rich interior line impact.
The Suns also have no advantage over the playoff experience of the two teams, the team's starting five, except for Paul and Crowder, the other three are playing in the playoffs for the first time, and in the key games of the playoffs, experience sometimes plays a role in determining fate.
So far in his career, Paul has no need to prove himself, the only regret is that he has not won a championship so far, and in the face of the Lakers who restrained themselves, I still hope that Paul can lead the Suns further.