Sun 127-124 Bulls!
Although the final score looked thrilling, in fact, the Suns did not win hard, they led by up to 27 points in the first three quarters, it can be said that they easily cleaned up the second opponent in the East, and further consolidated their first position in the league.
At the beginning of the game, Booker showed excellent game status, and he is now the well-deserved king of the first quarter in the league.
In the last 11 games, Booker has averaged 12 points in the first quarter. Based on Booker's average of 25 points per game, he basically completed 50% of his work in the first quarter, for which the Japanese honey affectionately called him "Bu Yi Qiao" - Booker, the first quarter Jordan.
Today's first quarter was even more exaggerated, with 6 of 7 slashing 16 points. And out of 7 shots, only 2 are under the basket, the rest are all long-range shots, from the perception, Booker's shot is really a bit of Jordan's taste.
He's actually more like Kobe, but Bryant's mid-shot was also born out of Jordan. The most representative is the almost long two points at the end of the first quarter.
He got the frontcourt in the bottom left corner and didn't dribble against Jawant Green's defense – keeping in mind that the area was extremely narrow, just holding the ball with both hands to look at the timer opposite, waiting until the time was almost up.
Turn around with your left foot as the axis, use the footsteps and confrontation to get out of the space, and finally use the core strength to dry out the hand, the ball is in, and the time is up!
Like Kobe Bryant?
Not relying on dribbling to get rid of trying to free up the shot requires excellent core strength and shooting basics. The root cause of why Kobe Bryant can throw all kinds of strange kills in his career lies in this.
This way is difficult enough, but there is also an advantage, that is, not to eat space. At any time and anywhere on the pitch, as long as he gets a little out of it, he can shoot immediately.
In the face of Jordan-like Booker, I guess the Bulls missEdo ball and Caruso so much. This brings us back to the topic we discussed years ago, the bull's injury is too serious.
Ball Brother, Caruso and Jones Jr. are all extremely important defenders on the Bulls' defensive line and forward line, and their injuries make it difficult for the Bulls to exert pressure on the outside of the defensive end. Green and Dosem are good, but they're only good.
At the same time, DeRozan and Lavin cannot be expected to act as offensive arrows and kill opponents on the defensive end. The pressure on the outside defense is insufficient, and the burden naturally shifts to the inside, but Vucevic has never been a defensive gate.
So the Suns' open advantage in the first quarter is that no one can stop Booker with 16 points in a single quarter, but there is another dark line: Paul and the center's blocking is a hit, Vucevic comes up and Paul passes, 4 assists and 1 turnover in the first quarter. Vucevic didn't come up to Paul and pulled in two mid-range shots in the first quarter.
McGee also came up with teeth and claws full of vitality, although he did not score in the first quarter but 2 frontcourt boards, and the interior defense did not go wrong.
By the second quarter, Payton Jr. and McGee also began to learn from each other, constantly using blocks to attack Vucevic, mcGee scored 7 points in less than 4 minutes - two blocks after the next smooth and a completely empty three-pointer, the Bulls' defense made the Suns all excited.
This reflects the depth of the lineup rotation after the Bulls were injured. Originally, the Bulls could discharge a lineup of White + Caruso + Dosem + Green in the rotation stage, and the last position could be matched with large and small, this lineup focused on defense, vitality and counterattack on the front line, and everyone ran and jumped like a calf.
But now that Dosem is on the starter and Caruso is gone, Coach Donovan can only have White paired with Matt Thomas, who has a three-pointer but is also a colander on the defensive.
So in the second quarter, although Booker's state declined, the overall firepower of the team did not weaken, and the Bulls had to rely on deRozan and Lavin's singles.
According to Coach Monti, DeRozan and LaVine are a pair that averages 50 points per game. This is not an exaggeration, the two ended the first half with 30 points, and the shooting rate is around 50%.
But in addition to the two's 30 points, the remaining teammates only took a total of 19 points, looking up to see that the Suns were 18 points behind at halftime.
As long as the Bulls can't defend their opponents, no matter how much DeRozan and Lavin cut points, it will be difficult for them to win. And the more desperate they are, the more frustrating the feeling of powerlessness that comes with it becomes.
Just like playing Philadelphia yesterday, DeRozan cut 45 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, which is the second time he has cut a 40+ since leaving the Raptors, and the last time he went back to half a month ago when the Bulls played the Magic, he cut 41 points.
But coincidentally, both ball bulls lost. With 38 points today — including 25 points in the second half — the Bulls still lost.
That's why DeRozan would be so angry when the Suns used the Bulls' back-to-back shots in the third quarter to counter-pointers.
The bull without defense is like being broken two horns, running wildly, and eventually only hurting itself.
Now the top 12 in the East are divided into 3 echelons, with the top 1-5 only 2 wins at most, 6-8 only 0.5 wins away from each other, and 9-12 only 3.5 wins.
And the difference between the winning fields between the various echelons is also about 2, which is completely chaotic into a pot of porridge.
The Suns' opponents are Philadelphia and the Bucks, and the completion of these two games may add another fire to the chaotic East.
Thanks for reading it all!