Although the Suns won the Western Conference championship last season and successfully reached the Finals, they still surprised the fans after the start of the new season, after Paul was absent due to injury, they still showed a very strong fighting ability under the leadership of young twin stars Ayton and Booker, and locked in the first place in the West early, and in the closing stage of the regular season, Paul also returned to the field in time to make full use of the few remaining games to grind the lineup to play, so as to go all out to impact the championship after the start of the playoffs. It became the sole target of the Suns!
In this regular season, the Suns encountered the challenge of the Warriors, although in the three direct conversations before this season, the Warriors had the advantage of 2 wins and 1 loss, but their absolute core Steven Curry was absent due to injury, which made the team's combat effectiveness have a cliff-like decline, and the team is now in a state of losing consecutive losses, which can be said to be demoralized, which is the main reason why many fans before the game are optimistic that the Suns can easily win! However, after the game began, the Warriors played unusually tenaciously under the leadership of Poole, and the victory and defeat were retained until the last minute, but the stronger Suns still had the thrill of defeating the Warriors 107-103!
In the case of Curry's inability to play, Klay Thompson became one of the main points of the team, but without the strong containment of the gods on the offensive end, the Suns can exert more pressure on Clay on the defensive end, which also directly affects his personal offensive efficiency, the entire first half Klay shot 10 times only hit 2 goals, of which only got a pitiful 4 points in 4 of 4 three-pointers, although the personal status of the second half has recovered, but the three-pointers in the whole game are only 10 of 1 performance, He scored only 13 points, far from meeting expectations for him.
Previously, during Klay's recuperation, Assistant Curry Poole, in the case of Curry's injury and Klay could not find the feeling of shooting, took on the responsibility of the team's leading big brother, played 36.2 minutes in the whole game, hit 11 goals in 21 shots, including 7 of 14 three-pointers, contributed 38 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal of the full personal data, his brave play is also the reason why the Warriors can play with the Western Conference leader for a long time without being optimistic.
In this game, the Suns did not have the pressure of winning or losing, coupled with the absence of the opposing home, so that they had a lax thought, the offensive end played too simply, the defensive end did not come up with the strongest intensity, which is also the reason why the overall performance did not meet expectations, after the comeback, he led the team to slash the Nuggets and the 76ers, the two powerful Paul, played 32.4 minutes in this game, only contributed 15 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists in 9 shots, and also made 3 mistakes. Didn't live up to their own standards.
The two future stars, Ayton and Booker, are also affected by the overly relaxed mentality, of which Ayton although he got 16 points and 16 rebounds of the double-double data, but the personal offensive efficiency is not high, 17 shots only hit 7 goals, Booker is also cold shooting, 21 shots hit 5 goals, only got 22 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
After losing this game, the Warriors were also overtaken by the Lone Rangers in the Western Conference standings, falling to the fourth place, and there is also the possibility of being overtaken by the Nuggets, for the Warriors, they must keep the top four, only in this way can they ensure home advantage in the first round of the playoffs!