Last season, the Suns delivered a second record of 51 wins and 21 losses in the league, just one win away from the Jazz, who ranked first in the league. But even so, no one is optimistic about the Suns' playoff trip. Especially when the First Round of the Suns playoffs is against the Seventh Lakers in the West, the sound of "Black Seven" is even more up and down...
However, in the face of the outside world's doubts about them, the Suns did not choose to compromise, but used the results to "teach a lesson" to all those who questioned them - in the 21-year playoffs, they eliminated the Lakers, Nuggets, clippers to reach the finals, and once expected to win the championship.
But despite winning the "league's second record + reaching the finals" last season, the Suns still cannot be recognized by the outside world. Because they are facing the Lakers with thick eyebrows, the Nuggets without Murray, the Clippers without Leonard, and most importantly, they are not able to squeeze the Bucks to win the championship trophy.
Therefore, despite the good results last season, due to the fact that "there are no superstars in the team + no championships", every time the outside world discusses the championship team in the new season, it is always habitual to exclude them.
62 wins, 14 losses! Paul + Booker led the Suns to the league's first record
Before the start of the new season, the outside world's attention was basically focused on the Nets' "Duoha" big three, the Lakers' "Zhan Weimei" big three, and the defending champion Bucks, but ignored another Finals team last season , the Suns.
Especially in the opening stage of the new season, the Suns have lost to the Nuggets, Blazers, and Kings, and when they only win 1 win and 3 losses, the outside world is more convinced that the Suns and their achievements last season do not believe - that the reason why they were able to reach the Finals last year was more dependent on "luck" than strength.
Fortunately, after a bad start, the Suns quickly adjusted to a 18-game winning streak and climbed into the top three in the West. Since then, when Curry's performance has declined and Thompson has returned, he has pushed the Warriors to sit on the first throne of the league.
And after the Suns recently beat the Warriors 107-103, they have already won the first record of 62 wins and 14 losses in the league. Given the Grizzlies' 54-23 record, the Warriors, Lone Rangers 48-29, the Heat 49-28, and the Bucks 48-27, the Suns are now the only team to win 60+ games in the new season...
However, compared to the Warriors, Nets, Philadelphia, Nuggets and other teams, the Suns still lack the blessing of superstars. So even if their overall record in the new season is quite impressive, Paul and Booker are good enough, but when it comes to championship ownership, they will always be ignored or looked down upon...
If the Suns succeed in winning this year's playoffs, it will not come as a surprise
Although the Suns lineup lacks the blessing of superstars, in personal opinion, the Suns in the new season are obviously seriously underestimated by the outside world. Compared to the Bucks, Nets, Warriors and other championship favorites, in fact, even if the Suns win the championship in this year's playoffs, it will not be surprising at all.
1, Booker continues to grow, Paul's sword is not old. Since the new season, Booker has been able to average 26.4 points, 5.0 boards, 4.9 assists per game, and 46.3% shooting data performance; although Booker can not get MVP, he can not continue to play super performance, and even personal data compared to last season, even the previous seasons, there is no qualitative change.
But today,Booker, both in terms of ball dealer and style of play, has become more mature under paul's influence, and his influence on the team is greater than ever.
One of the team's backcourt cores, Paul, currently averaging 15.0 points, 4.4 boards, 10.7 assists per game, and 49.4% shooting percentage, is clearly down in scoring compared to last season or previous seasons.
But despite a slight decline in stats, Paul still maintains the level of a superstar - when the team needs him to score, he can still score high points in a single game.
So when Booker becomes more mature and more influential; Paul's sword is not old, and he can still score and control the court stably at key moments, this Sun, under their leadership, can always play the league's top combat strength and play the finals level of strength performance.
2. Balanced attack and defense is the basis for the Sun to win. At the beginning of the new season, under the power of Wiggins, Poole, Green and others, the Warriors once played a brilliant performance of the league's first record. The starting lineup is not the top of the league, and the offensive firepower is only ranked in the league's more than ten Warriors, the reason why they can play such a performance is mainly because they play the top three defensive efficiency in the league.
In fact, the reason why the Suns can play 60+ wins in the new season and sit in the first place in the league for a long time is mainly because of their second offensive firepower in the league (115.2) + the league's second defensive efficiency (106.6).
After all, Booker's offensive firepower + Paul's tandem can not only maintain the firepower of the sun's key moments, but also stimulate the offensive potential of teammates - Bridges, Ayton, Johnson, Payne, Kaminsky, etc. Under Paul's organization, they can easily score in double figures per game.
Coupled with the defensive core composed of Bridges + Ayton, it helped the Suns build a super efficient defensive system, so the Suns were able to maintain the top two levels in the league in terms of offensive firepower and defensive efficiency in the new season, and played an overall performance of offensive and defensive balance.
It is worth mentioning that since the NBA recorded the game data, only one team has ranked in the top three in the league in both offensive and defensive ends in a single season - that is, the Warriors in the 14-15 season and the 16-17 season, and the Warriors who have balanced offensive and defensive defense in these two years have successfully won the championship trophy.
3, as long as there is no super team in the league, it is the best time for the Suns to win the championship. In the 17-18 season, Harden + Paul led the Rockets to achieve the first record of the league with 65 wins and 17 losses, but the Super Warriors did not disintegrate at that time. When the final playoffs met, the warriors, who were stronger overall, made the Rockets suffer...
At the beginning of the season, the super team in the eyes of the outside world - that is, the Nets with "Durant + Harden + Irving" and the Lakers with "James + thick eyebrows + Westbrook". However, the Nets Big Three have already fallen apart because of Harden's departure; and the Lakers Big Three have been unable to integrate into the team system and can't play chemistry because Ofshao, and now they may not even be able to get a play-off place.
In addition, the Bucks, Philadelphia, Warriors, Nuggets and other teams are strong, but as long as they do not reach the level of super teams, the Suns will not be powerless to fight back. And from the perspective of the key moments of the new season and the overall offensive and defensive strength, as long as the playoffs can maintain the current level and state, then it will not be surprising that they win the playoffs this year. Because in the absence of a super team, the suns with balanced attack and defense can even be regarded as the "strongest team in the league"...