Supposedly, the Suns, the number one in the league, against the Pelicans, who had the lowest record in the playoffs last season, should have been the most suspenseful group of duels.
However, in the first game of the playoffs, the Pelicans used the aftermath of the play-offs to play against the Spurs and Clippers, and almost let the Sun Gutter of the home game overturn the ship.
The Suns led 53-33 in the first half, but the Pelicans returned a 37-26 in the third quarter, extending the suspense into the final quarter.
The result is the truth." Point Guard God" Paul.
With 19 points and 2 assists in the single quarter, the Pelicans saw who is the boss of the league and the true god of the sun.
Finally helped the Suns to have a thrilling 110-99 to make a good start. At the same time, they also crossed what was probably the biggest minefield they encountered in the first round.
In this battle, Paul also proved with actual performance why Booker, as the offensive arrow in the league's oldest team, the best star, and the man with the average of 26.8 points per game, 5.0 boards and 4.8 assisting eye-catching data, finally did not even get the MVP nomination.
At the crucial moment, Paul remained a more reliable presence than he was.
In the shortlist of final awards for the regular season that has just been announced, the nominees are the three internal monsters of Mr. Yo, Alphabet Brother and Embiid.
And this season's 64 wins and 18 losses, not only the league first but also breaking the team's history of a single season winning record of the Sun duo, are all named Sun Mountain.
The best players on the best teams (whoever is in them) don't even have a nomination.
You can sigh that the NBA is in decline today, only look at the data, not the record.
It can also be said that today's stars are personally larger than the team, and they enjoy the treatment of the stars in the team.
But in fact, in history, the stars of the "dual-core team" have suffered losses in the regular season awards competition, which is almost the "unspoken rule" of the NBA convention.
First, the so-called "dual-core drive", what is the way to play?
Dual-core drive is not a simple patchwork of two supergiants. From the earliest West + Baylor, later Nash + O'Neal, Iverson + Anthony and even Yao Ming + Maddy are typical of 1+1<2.
Two superstars with incompatible styles and even conflicting personalities come together, and examples of failure abound.
It means that a team is really based on two powerful stars, building a solid and effective team around them, and forming a strong enough offensive and defensive system.
Whether it's the "Showtime" dynasty of magician + sky hook, Jordan + Pippen, Kobe + shark or the recent success of Zhan Mei.
They have different styles and different divisions of labor in the team's tactical system, but they are also irreplaceable.
This is undoubtedly the most balanced and solid team, but the negative impact is that there will be a diversion of influence when it comes to awards and status evaluations.
For example, the magician and Tiangou worked together for ten years to win five championships, but it was not until Tiangou was 40 years old (1986-87 season) that he won his first regular season MVP.
Kobe Bryant and the Sharks are well known for their fight for the ball, and although they have won three consecutive championships, this pair now seems to be the most invincible combination in history, and both of them have only taken one mvp each.
Pippen had to be the "best second in history" in the light of Jordan, and jordan's first retirement, he quickly won the All-Star MVP and the 93-94 MVP selection third.
Only recently have he told the world about the bitter water accumulated over those years.
Of course, the most tragic is Zhan Mei, who in the first year of the 2019-20 season, they brought the Lakers to the first place in the West and won the final championship. But in the MVP and Best Defensive Player competitions at the same time lost to the more personal data of the alphabet brother.
Zhan Mei is the absolute core of the Lakers' offense and defense, respectively.
LeBron teamed up with the Lakers, who didn't have much offensive talent besides him and thick eyebrows, and won the first assist of his career.
And the dominance of the thick eyebrow defensive coverage is the absolute cornerstone of the Lakers' defensive system.
But when the final judges voted, they both influenced each other's votes, and finally cheapened the alphabet brother.
Booker and Paul, who are the big brothers of the sun?
But for all of the above-mentioned people, there is still a distinction between primary and secondary. For example, before the 1985-86 season, Tiangou was still the boss of the Lakers, and in 1985, at the age of 38, he became the oldest finals mvp in history.
Jordan has always been a unique symbol of the Bulls, and Phil Jackson has always emphasized that the Sharks are the absolute boss of the Lakers.
And, even if we look at the Lakers now, LeBron James is still the top player of this team.
But in today's Suns team, can you really tell the difference between Paul and Booker, who is more important?
Paul has played 65 games this season, the Suns are 53-12, but the team also has 11-6 when he is out.
Booker played in 68 games, the Suns 56-12, and only 8-6 when out of the game.
It seems that Booker is a little more important than Paul?
To break it down a bit further, when Paul was on the floor, the Suns won 10.2 points per 100 rounds and 4.9 points when not present, with a net efficiency of +5.2.
When Booker was on the floor, the Suns won 9.7 points per 100 rounds and 4.9 points when not present, with a net efficiency of +4.8.
Paul is slightly better, but it's also important to consider the impact the two have on each other and the Suns' solid rotation today.
On the Victory Contribution (WS), Paul 9.4, Booker 7.6, position true efficiency value, Paul 4.0, Booker 3.6.
That is, Paul's increase in the sun team is greater, and Booker is a more prominent presence in personal data.
More importantly, we all understand that the strength of this Suns today began with the arrival of Paul after the 2019-20 season.
Coach Monti has arrived before that, and now of the starting five, Ayton, Booker, Bridges, and the most important substitute on the bench, Cameron Johnson, are already in the squad.
But at that time, they were still just eleventh in the West, and they didn't even make the playoffs.
Paul, like Kidd and Nash, has quickly revived this team, allowing each teammate to return to his place and play to his or her full potential.
His strong personality and strict requirements quickly injected the "winner" gene into this Sun, which is very young except him.
Booker was still a "data boy" who scored 70 points and celebrated even if the team lost.
But under paul's influence in the past two years, he not only played the best performance of his career defensively, but he was also the best organizer and leader of the Suns when Paul was not on the floor.
And, although he fell in love with Kendal Jenna, the youngest and most beautiful of the "best defensive player family", he did not collapse like his predecessors such as McCantz, Humphreys, Odom, Harden, and TT.
Looking at their performance on March 31, after the Suns beat their old rival Warriors 107-103 away from home, it seems that the Warriors who lack Curry did not let them get enough workout.
After the game, young people led by Booker and Ayton spontaneously began to practice in the corridor.
This is the hunger for champions, the culture of winners.
Can you imagine them two years ago as a league-bottom defensive brisket that hadn't made the playoffs in a decade?
For the Suns this season, the championship is the most important and only goal,
For MVP, Paul doesn't have to care, his seventeen-year brilliant career only needs another championship trophy to finish the dot.
And Booker, there is no need to rush at all, with his current state and ability, as long as he keeps it, he will eventually conquer everyone one day.
The strong are not necessarily constant, but the hard-working people will never fail.