The regular season into the second half of the season, the teams that want to enter the playoffs have begun to work hard to strive for better rankings, before the All-Star Game Paul due to finger injuries basic regular season reimbursement, All-Star Johnson, Crowder and other main players also suffered from injuries, but this did not hinder the pace of the Suns, 16 rounds in advance to lock the playoffs, the current 4 consecutive wins are the longest in the league, continue to maintain the league's first record.
In the last two games, Suns player Craig has performed extremely well, against the Rockets he scored 21 points, 14 boards, 3 assists and 2 caps, shot 8 of 8, 3 of 3 from three-point range, 2 of 2 free throws, against the Bulls he had 14 points, 9 boards, 2 assists and 2 breaks, 5 of 5, 2 of 3 points, 2 of 2 free throws, which means that Craig did not concede a single goal in these two games, 13 shots, the efficiency is really amazing.
Speaking of Craig, he is 2 meters 01 tall, very strong, averaged 7.2 points and 4.8 boards per game last season, shooting 50.3% from the field, is one of the important rotations in the team's front line, he and Crowder are more focused on the fourth position, Bridges and Johnson are more focused on the third position, four players have two starts, two substitutes, can be combined at will, so that the Suns' forward strength belongs to one of the strongest in the league, they are also dubbed by fans as the "four famous catches", but in the offseason, the Suns did not reach a contract extension with Craig. In the end, he signed the Pacers for 2 years and 10 million.
At that time, I did not understand the operation of the Suns management, the front line defenders were very popular in the market, especially Craig's annual salary was only 5 million, and he also had a three-point shooting ability, this season's Saric season reimbursement, Kaminsky's return date was undecided, the lack of Craig made the Suns' forward strength greatly reduced, fortunately, the Pacers opened the rebuild, the Suns also realized their mistakes, exchanged Smith for Craig, and Craig who returned to the Suns was also completely completely unfamiliar, seamlessly connecting the team's offensive and defensive system.
In the last two games, Johnson and Crowder can not play due to injury, Bridges and Craig took up the heavy responsibility of the team's front, the two completed the team's task well, so that the injured can better recover, originally thought that last season was the Suns' closest to the championship, did not expect their strength this season to go to a higher level, offseason introduction of Shamet experienced the beginning of the season struggle, after the All-Star Game to find the shooting target, three-point shooting rate increased from 35.3% to 40.3%, Holliday, who traded with Craig, is also perfectly integrated into the team, averaging 7.5 points, 2.4 boards and 3.7 assists in 17.2 minutes per game, and shooting 54.5% from three-point range, playing the highest level of his career.
Booker's performance has become more and more stable this season, Ayton has also supported the team's interior line, and when the playoffs come, the Suns are all back, there are too many people who can play, they will once again launch an attack on the championship, this time Paul can lift the championship trophy as desired, let's wait and see!