On April 23, Beijing time, the Phoenix Suns will visit the New Orleans Pelicans for the third game of the first round of the playoffs between the two sides. In the first two matches, the two teams each had a 1-1 draw. However, the Suns are the regular season champions and the favourites to win this season. In addition to being the first team to win a playoff spot this season, it is also one of the most stable teams to maintain a championship lineup this season.
Coupled with last season's Finals experience, the Suns were in a good position ahead of the playoffs. According to the prediction of the expert group of a live broadcasting platform, nearly 80% of people believe that the sun will eventually win the championship.
However, the weather is unpredictable, in the G2 game between the two teams, the Suns core player Devon Booker accidentally injured, and after the Suns team doctor diagnosed, the team officially released the news that Booker's injury was a slight strain of the right hamstring.
American sports medicine specialist Dr. Evan Jeffries gave a brief account of Booker's injury, arguing that Booker's injury could not be rushed. Because Harden also had a similar first-degree strain last year, if he were forced to come back early, his end would be the same as Harden's current decline, and usually this kind of injury requires a 7-10 day recovery period.
In the first two games of the playoffs, Booker averaged 28 points, 3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, shooting 57.9% from three-point range, arguably the most threatening scorer in the Suns camp and the most difficult opponent for the Pelicans.
Today, Booker missed the Suns' first-round playoffs due to injury and is uncertain, which has also had a great impact on the trend of the first round. And, with rival Pelicans with All-Star players such as Ingram and CJ McCollum in the table, the Suns' prospects are worrying.
Yang Yi, a famous domestic basketball commentator, threw out his own views. In his opinion, if Booker does not return in the first round, then the Pelicans are likely to eliminate the Suns.
The reason given by Yang Yi is actually not causally related to Booker's injury, and he also believed that the Sun had a fatal shortcoming before the G2 game, that is, the fact that the Sun was short from the No. 1 to the No. 4 position, and also used the Lakers' first three games to stabilize the Sun as an example. With the Pelicans having Varan and Nance Jr. sitting under the basket, coupled with Ingram's solid mid-range shooting and experienced CJ possession, the Pelicans can't win.
Moreover, Yang Yi believes that even if Booker returns to the team in time, then in the face of the Pelicans, a well-trained young team, the sun will have to peel off its skin without dying, and the sun will not win seven games.
The famous American commentator Perkins also gave the same view. However, he is full of confidence in the team from inline performance.
"Ingram now gives me a sense of Durant's déjà vu, the way he plays, the shots, the dribbles are very similar. He seems to be fully prepared, and instead of being on his own as he used to be, he has the ability to make his teammates better. Like Willie Green said yesterday, in the final moments of the game, I don't have to direct myself, just leave things to Ingram, he can handle it. ”
So, Perkins thinks the Pelicans advance to the first round and will solve the Suns in seven games!