On February 14, Beijing time, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day, the Suns welcomed the challenge of the Sacramento Kings at home.
There was no temptation after the start of the game, and the two attacking teams directly attacked each other. Sabonis Jr. was well-rounded, Booker didn't feel good but threaded the needle, and the Suns responded with more blossoms, and the two sides did not open the score in the first half, and at halftime, Sacramento led by 3 points in the first half of the battle, leading the Suns 67-64.
Devin Booker had a terrible first half, shooting just 1-of-10 from the opening game and couldn't help the Suns build a lead.
Yibian fought again, and Booker finally fired, and the fight was 2+1 to boost morale. Grayson Allen, who started the game, became the wonder of the game, including an ultra-long three-point shot at the top of the arc without adjustment when the offensive time was running out in the third quarter, helping the Suns to boost their morale in the third quarter without being pulled away by the Kings.
In the final quarter, the Suns hit a 14-6 scoring wave to extend the lead to 10 points.
In the face of the Suns' offense, the Kings launched a counterattack, and under the leadership of the two cores of Fox and Sa Jr., they erased the point difference. In the final moments, Allen, the wonder soldier of the game, received a key rebound, and the Suns hit a key free throw to close the game 130-125.
After winning this game, the Suns surpassed the Pelicans by virtue of their head-to-head record (1-0) and rose to fifth place in the West, becoming the leader of the second group in the West.
Challenges and perspectives from Phoenix
Phoenix's team-building model is superstar basketball. This also led to huge spending for the team. The team's total salary of $196.2 million this season ranks fourth in the league and pays a hefty luxury tax.
Another impact of salary pressure is that teams can only sign base-salary players without trading superstars and moving the core roster, and the challenges and options in the trade market are quite limited, and only minor repairs can be made.
The Suns add to the roster of the championship lineup
According to WOJ, the Suns' new move is to finalize a contract with 35-year-old forward Thaddeus Young until the end of the season.
Young was sent to the Nets before the trade deadline and cut to become a free agent. Young is an 18-season veteran in the league, playing 1,162 games in his career with the 76ers, Timberwolves, Nets, Pacers, Bulls, Spurs and Raptors, and is a familiar face in the league.
This season, Young averaged 15 minutes per game with the Raptors, with 5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
From a usage point of view, Yang is an experienced veteran and does not occupy the right to shoot. With certain organizational skills, the assist ratio has reached 19.6%, and the assist-to-turnover ratio is as high as 4.4, the Suns' turnover data this season remains high, and there is a veteran with a more stable style of play to join, playing the 4/5 position in the second team, which can enrich the Suns' options and increase competitiveness in the rotation lineup.
Can the problem of organizing an offensive be solved?
In addition to reinforcements, the Suns also ushered in a not-so-good piece of news: their headache for the Big Three, Bradley Beal, is injured again. Beal left the game in the first quarter with a left hamstring strain. After the game, Suns coach Vogel said Beal would miss the team's final game before All-Star Games against the Pistons.
As of now, the Suns have made extremely limited gains from their Beal trades. The Suns have played 54 games this season, and Beal has only played in 30 games due to injury, averaging 18.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 32.6 points per game while shooting 49.5% from the field and 36.3% from three-point range.
The ultimate goal of bringing in Beal is to create the ultimate offense.
In the 2020-21 season, Beal also averaged 31.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, joining Phoenix, and the Suns intended to free up the duo of Durant and Booker to create an invincible offensive combination. The imaginary combination of 1+1+1 greater than 3 did not appear, but Beal averaged 18.2 points per game, setting a new low in his career in the past 8 seasons.
The team's actual situation did not match the owner's expectations, which was a problem for Vogel.
Halfway through the season, Bill didn't work. The Suns' offensive efficiency of 118 per game ranks 7th in the league, but in the handling of key shots, it is still the stars who play a few tricks, which has not made great progress compared to last season, as the team gradually begins to enter the rhythm of playoff preparation. Coach Vogel is left with less and less time for adjustment and trial and error.