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Hotly discussed| Doncic continues to be super-god, Bronson warms up and explodes, Lone Ranger: I really want to play game four right away

NBA Playoffs Western Conference Semifinals G3, the Lone Ranger beat the Suns 103-94 at home to make the total score 1-2. Under the horror data of the Suns' first 8 playoff games shooting more than 50%, the Lone Ranger strictly guarded the box and limited the opponent's shooting rate to 44.6%. Bronson stepped forward and scored 28 points and five assists; Doncic contributed a quasi-triple-double of 26 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists. It is worth mentioning that this is also the first time since 2019 that the Lone Ranger has defeated the Suns.

With a big score of 0-2 behind, the lone rangers who returned to the home field could not afford to lose, they had to play twelve points to win this home game. With Doncic and Bronson's control of the game, coupled with the multi-point blossoming of the outside shooter group, witnessed by Texas fans, the Lone Ranger successfully continued the suspense of the series, beating the Suns 103-94 to make the big score 1-2.

At the beginning of the game, the Lone Ranger did not enter the form very quickly, Doncic made 7 of the first 10 shots, but under bronson's leadership, the team established a 9-point lead in the first quarter. It is not difficult to see from the style of the lone ranger's game that the coaching staff has made careful arrangements with the players before the game, and increasing defensive aggression is the most critical part of it.

In the defense of the position, the most important thing for the Lone Ranger to solve is Paul's personal attack. In a crucial battle against the Pelicans G6, Paul helped the Suns advance with an outrageous shooting percentage of 14 from 14. However, in today's game, Paul was completely lost in the lone ranger's defensive system, and for the first time in the career playoffs, there were as many as 7 mistakes in the half game, which was undoubtedly disastrous for Paul, who had the reputation of "point guard god" and strong control ability.

During the regular season, the Suns were one of the most solid teams in the league, averaging just 12.3 turnovers per game. Entering the playoffs, the Suns' control over the number of turnovers has been perfected, and the average turnover per game has dropped to 10.8. However, in this game, the Lone Ranger forced the Suns to make as many as 17 mistakes, allowing them to keep the rhythm of the game firmly in their own hands.

In addition to the tireless efforts of the whole team on the defensive end, Bronson's recovery in this game is also an important factor for the team to win back a city. In the first two games of the series, Bronson performed badly, hitting only nine of his 28 shots and scoring only 22 points. However, in today's game, Browns provoked the girder on the offensive end, hitting 10 of 21 shots and scoring 28 points with nearly 50% shooting. In this campaign, Bronson focused his attack on the inside, constantly using breakthroughs and confrontations to impact the paint area guarded by Ayton. In total, Bronson made 12 shots in the paint, hitting eight of them, or 67 percent.

'As a collective, we know what needs to be done in this game. Bronson said: "From a competitive point of view, we are now ready for game four of the series, and we can even start right away. When I got into this game, I was aggressive, and whether I scored or not, I had to keep that mentality. Whether it's 0-of-6 or 7-of-12, my aggressiveness won't change. Tonight I found a way to bounce back, but I can't be satisfied with that, next Monday is going to be another brutal game where I have to bring the same energy, the same intensity, the same everything. ”

In the future, Bronson still has room to improve, and most of his losses in this game are from long-range projections, with only one hit in five three-point shots. If he wants to drag the series into game six or seventh, Bronson needs to get his three-point feeling back.

In this game, Bronson and Doncic were very decisive in their attack on the Suns' interior, which also achieved excellent results, and the Lone Ranger's interior score crushed the opponent 50-32. Doncic, with poor three-pointer feel, frequently took advantage of physical confrontation to defend against the wheels of Paul, Bridges and Johnson to score in the paint. Doncic made 7 of 10 shots in the restricted zone and 9 out of 14 in the paint zone, letting the sun's inside line wind blow.

In order to limit the impact of Doncic and Bronson, the Suns' flanking defense subconsciously contracted the penalty area and assisted in the protection, which also left a lot of quality projection opportunities for the Lone Ranger's wing pitchers. Bullock, Smith and Kleber combined to make 10 shots in 25 shots from outside the three-point line, providing firepower replenishment and support. 'No matter where Doncic is on the pitch, he can give us a really big draw, get the opponent to focus on him defensively and create quality shooting opportunities for us. Bronson said: "When he attacks in the box, his teammates will contract and then Luca will find his teammates. Sometimes, without the ball, the opponent can't relax the defense against Doncic. ”

In an interview after the game, Doncic gave credit to his teammates. "Bullock and Smith, these two players have been fantastic defensively all season and they showed their abilities once again today. Also, the energy of the fans in our stadium is crazy, we just want to maintain this rhythm, strengthen our execution, and strive to keep it in every game that follows. I know I have to get better and I feel like I've improved a lot defensively this year. ”

Regarding the team's performance in this game, Lone Ranger head coach Kidd expressed great satisfaction. "I told Bronson before the game to let him play aggressive and be back to himself. I think today was the first time he was aggressive in this series; he didn't wait and see on the court and went straight to the basket. He hits the ball into the box, as we've always done this season, and good things will happen. Playing like Brunson did today, we played a lot of the right offensive rounds. Doncic has also done well at the low post, putting pressure on the opposing defensive end and we need to continue to do so in the next game. ”

"It was a great team win, Brunson, Dinwiddie, Kléber, Doncic, Bullock and everyone did their best to help the team. Doncic also helped the team a lot on the defensive end, and he was involved. In the game, it pushed our team into a different situation than before. Kidd said. The series G4 between the two sides will start at 3:30 a.m. Beijing time on May 9.

Wen | Bai Qi

Edit the | DBSQ

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