The Suns struggled to beat the Eighth-place Pelicans in the West after Paul had 28 points, 4 rebounds, 14 assists and zero turnovers, and the series score came to 2-1.
You know, Paul slashed 19 points on 7 of 10 shots in the last quarter to lead the Suns out of adversity, it can be said that in this game Chris Paul incarnated as St. Paul!
Reflecting from the side how strong the Pelicans have been this season, they are not playoff belly!
If it weren't for Hayes' injury in the middle of the second quarter, the Pelicans would have won the game. After clearly seeing Hayes off the court, the Suns' offense was better, and the Suns took the opportunity to play a 13-0 shockwave, and the Suns took a 12-point lead at halftime. Obviously, whether Nance Jr. came up or Tre Murphy came up, the effect was not good!
In the last game, it was Hayes's outstanding performance that helped the Pelicans complete the comeback and injured Booker!
The Pelicans are proud of their current big three and two small lineups (Ingram 2m 03, Hayes 2m 11, Varan 2m 11), and the 2-1 result of the First Sun of the West, which many fans did not expect.
Judging from the trend of the game, today's Pelicans are not afraid of the Sun without Booker, even if Booker super god halftime 31 points, the Pelicans are only 5 points behind, it can be said that the gap between the two teams is not as big as imagined. Even, the Pelicans' lineup has a huge advantage on the inside, and the combination of Hayes + Varan is one of the strongest frontcourt rebounding combinations in the league!
The Suns are one of the top teams in the league, with a record of 64 wins this season, but the Suns also have their own disadvantage, that is, they can't play five small. It takes Ayton on the pitch to be able to play an efficient attack and defense!
The Sun is dominated by blocking and middle distance, which is close to position warfare, and the Pelicans' three large and two small lineups are not afraid of position warfare.
Crowder plays center forward, Suns play Paul + Booker (Shamet) + Bridges + Old Huang Zhong + Crowder's five small lineups are rarely used, most of them still play Paul + Booker + Bridges + Crowder + Ayton's regular lineup, McKee as Ayton's substitute, we can often see! One is that Crowder now has almost no three-pointers, and the other, Claude's height is not at all right for Varan and Hayes, and even Nance Jr. can't match, and the penalty area will be blown up!
And the Suns are not a three-point killing team, which can't be compared to the Warriors!
Ingram's 37 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists on 13-of-21 shooting in the G2 game and 34 points and 7 rebounds on 11-of-19 shooting in the G3 game would have had better stats if it weren't for Ingram's 6-minute break in the final quarter.
In the mid-range, the Suns have almost no one to defend Ingram, and Crowder, Cameron Johnson, and Bridges have difficulty interfering with Ingram's shooting! This is also the pelican's advantage in positional warfare, after all, little KD!
Since the sun doesn't play five small, the pelicans rarely play! The Pelicans play the inside advantage, and it is worth mentioning that due to the existence of Nance Jr., the Pelicans can also try to play Five Small, which the Sun can't do!
Today's Sun's outside attack power is greatly weakened in Booker's absence, and the Pelicans' inside advantage is huge. And the Pelicans and Herbert Jones, the best defender on the outside, I think the Pelicans are not without the possibility of black eight!
Compared to the Pelicans playing the three big and two small lineups, the Nuggets played three big and two small (Jeff Green 2m 03, Aaron Gordon 2m 03, Jokic 2m 11) is more awkward. Today's Nuggets are 0-3 behind, and there is almost no possibility of reversal!
Why are the Nuggets so messed up?
First of all, let's first exaggerate the Warriors' proud five-small lineup, Curry + Jordan Poole + Klay + Wiggins + Green, and there are Iguodala or Payton to replace one of them.
Five small crazy projections make the Nuggets unable to cope, the three people average 15 three-point output on the perimeter line, shooting nearly 50%, put in the league, this is not, even historical level!
But whereever the Nuggets have Jeff Green or Jamaco Green, the Nuggets always have a player who can't keep up with the Warriors. These three games are like this, as long as Malone is on the big three, it is the existence of losing points!
The Warriors rarely play blocking, almost all of them break through the three-point shot, and there is a vast space on the outside line, which is a talent that the Suns do not have! And a wave of streams, which is also a rare occurrence of the sun!
Moreover, after Curry is placed on the bench, he still averages 25+5+5 levels of output per game, which is a huge supplement to the Warriors' bench. And jordan poole has a better effect after the start. It can be said that the best of both worlds, which also shows that Curry's pattern, placed on any super giant in the league, is difficult to do!
After Curry was placed on the bench, the effect of the genuine five small and the Poole version of the five small was comparable, and once the momentum was up, the Nuggets were difficult to overcome!
In fact, Nuggets coach Malone is not without adjustments, once used three small (Hyland / Rivers Jr. + Morris + Barton) two lineups in the first half of G3, the effect is also very good! But in the second half, Malone still stubbornly used the three big and two small, burying the game, it can be said that Malone has an unshirkable responsibility! From "Zhuge Malone", it has become "a muscle malong"!
Compared with the "one-sided" Malone, Willie Green is more flexible in terms of employment. Snell didn't work well and let him go off in two rounds; Varan was beaten by Paul, so he let Varan go off and replaced him with Nance Jr.; Tre Murphy didn't work well, and Malone used Alvarado.
The author feels that the Nuggets' series has no suspense, and the Pelicans now have a huge advantage, and there is a great possibility of black eight! Moreover, in the gap between coaches, it also increases the possibility of counterattack!