In the recent suns against the bulls, the suns easily defeated the bulls in this seven-man doubles. In the 13 games paul has missed, the Suns have a 69.2 percent win rate, still topping the league. In the 11 games booked by Booker, the Suns won 72.7%, also ranking first in the league. No matter who the Suns are missing, the team is still functioning normally, and all the people are soldiers. That's the main reason why the Suns are firmly at number one in the league.
The Suns are currently in first place in the West with a record of 57 wins and 14 losses, and have locked up a playoff spot early. After losing last year's finals, they chose to make a comeback in the most low-key, stable way. In the last six games, the Suns have averaged 125.5 points per game. The Suns continue to crush the teams, and they are still the most powerful contenders on the road to the championship!
That summer at the age of 34, Paul was sent to the Thunder by the Rockets. A fish belly team made up of a group of recruit eggs. But Paul was a natural leader, and under his leadership, the Thunder made the playoffs with 117.8 points per 100 possessions. In Paul's absence, the Thunder can only score 102.8 points per 100 possessions. When the Thunder played the playoffs, the Suns hadn't tasted playoffs for nine years in a row. But during this 9-year period, the Sun has accumulated enough talent. They have Booker with 70 points in a single game, Ayton in 18 years, and Bridges, the no. 10 rookie in the first round. The Suns lack a team leader who is experienced on the field and can reshape the team system. So Jones, the team's general manager, focused on Paul.
In order to get the 34-year-old paul with injury, Jones withstood the pressure and exchanged it for The First Round Pick for Rubio + Oubre + 2022. The addition of Paul has ushered in a qualitative change for this team. In the past, most of the Suns attacked with Booker holding the ball, Butcher relied more on his own singles + feeding the ball to his teammates on the weak side as the initiative, he rarely played with Ayton, and liked to hold the ball to advance the speed of the game. In this way, Booker's personal offensive ability is stronger, but the potential of other talented players in the team cannot be effectively stimulated. Once the team changed Paul as the main controller, the Suns' teamwork and organization were gradually reflected in the game.
Paul was the commander on the pitch. He is in charge on the court, and Booker needs to take the defender away on the weak side, occasionally blocking and dismantling, running position and enriching tactics. When the team entered the fourth quarter and fell into a scoring drought, Booker stepped forward again and used his personal ability to break the deadlock for the team. As for Ayton, he can play with Paul to get more comfortable scoring opportunities. Bridges and Crowder are good 3D players, and with Paul's timely delivery of shells, their firepower on the outside has been further upgraded. As for Payne, he just has to learn Paul's style of play and be a good organizer of the second team. Paul, on the other hand, put more energy and physical strength into the game at key moments.
When the team slowly gets used to playing in the right way, the so-called winning culture is established. That's what Paul meant to this sun. Even now that Paul is reimbursed for the regular season, the Suns can still laugh at the league, and this is the real strength of this team. So this season, who can stop the Suns from reaching the Finals again?
Now in second place in the West is the Grizzlies, the biggest dark horse of the season. Since the Grizzlies beat the Warriors to the playoffs last season, the team's management has given the team more high hopes. In order to make the team more competitive, the Grizzlies sent away the main center Valanciunas in the offseason in exchange for Adams, who was responsible for guarding the basket and was willing to do any dirty work. In this way, the Grizzlies not only strengthened their interior defense, but also focused more on Morant, Bain, Blooms and Jalan Jr. Coupled with the fact that the Grizzlies are an impactful young team, they jumped to second place in the West. But the Grizzlies are too young to have playoff experience. So they hardly pose much of a threat to the sun.
The Warriors are injured and are now in third place in the West. You know, at the beginning of the season, the Warriors were able to suppress the sun and become the leader of the West. Kerr has also coached the Remnant Warriors and defeated the healthy Suns. With the return of Thompson, Green and Wiseman, the Warriors are definitely the biggest obstacle for the sun to break out of the West. But Curry recently suffered a sprained ligament in his left ankle and is expected to miss three weeks. This is definitely not a small blow to the Warriors. If the Warriors can successfully advance to the second round of the playoffs, wait until Curry returns from a complete injury. The Warriors will be organic contenders for the championship.
As for the Jazz, although they have strict strategic literacy, it is difficult to go too far in the playoffs with their performance at key moments. The Lone Ranger is talented, but lacks defense and has poor stability. If you meet a well-equipped Sun in the playoffs, the Lone Ranger's winning percentage is minimal. The only thing left to stop the sun from lifting off is the Nuggets. The Western upstart who focuses on playing team basketball and owns MVP Jokic.
Jokic, one of the three MVPs candidates this season, has now led the team to the Record of Six in the West. Last season without Murray, the Nuggets were swept by the Suns in the playoffs. After a year of recuperation, Murray has now been sent to play in the Development League. And it is likely to be recalled to the NBA in recent days. Once the Nuggets win back the top two, their strength will obviously increase by one notch. Once Murray was there, the opponent didn't dare to frantically pinch Jokic. And the Nuggets' offensive launch points have also changed from one to two. Such nuggets are terrifying and will also be a formidable opponent for the sun to rush out of the west.
But the West will eventually win the sun with the greatest odds. After all, the overall stability and combat experience of the Suns are unmatched by other teams. Once they reached the finals, they were one step closer to the championship trophy. The east is now a time of heat, 76ers, and bucks. Judging from the sun's record against them this season, the suns still have a certain advantage. So this season will be the best season for the Suns to compete for the championship. If George and Leonard can return healthy next season, the Nets will return to normal. The difficulty factor for the Sun to win the championship will be greatly increased.
The sun was just right and the breeze was not dry. Who would have thought that Paul would have the best chance of winning the championship at the end of his career. If the Suns had won the championship this year, Paul would not have the regret of not having a crown for the rest of his life. Mamba, Booker, will also be added to the discussion of the league's first quarterback. If the end of the story is really like this, it must be the best arrangement in heaven!