On April 24, Beijing time, in the second game of the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Timberwolves, who took the first place, continued to sit at home to face the Suns.
At the beginning of the first quarter, the Suns were as slow as ever, the Timberwolves played an 8-0 start in 3 minutes, and Booker strengthened his offensive aggression at the critical moment to make kills, and the Suns ended the first quarter with 21-24 behind. In the second quarter, the Timberwolves lost power, and the Suns played a wave of small climaxes under the leadership of Beal, and veteran Conley played a role to help the Timberwolves stop the bleeding. In the rematch, Towns suddenly exploded and scored six points in a row, and the Suns fell into a four-minute scoring drought after responding to two three-pointers, and top 3D McDaniel showed offensive talent. In the final quarter, the Timberwolves continued their state, and the difference between the two sides reached 19 points, and the Suns, who looked like gods, completely lost their resistance. In the end, the Timberwolves defeated the Suns 105-93, and the series came to 2-0.
It is worth mentioning that during a timeout in the game, Beal yelled at the team's head coach, Vogel. Speaking after the game, Beal bluntly said: "We defended badly and I was like, 'What the hell are we doing?'"
In fact, Vogel had long since lost control of the locker room, and just before that, Gordon and Vogel had a serious verbal altercation due to dissatisfaction with Vogel's tactical arrangement.
Anyone other than Vogel can see the Suns' current problems, one is not organized, and the other is not defensive. In fact, the Suns do not lack resources in this area, O'Neal, Bol and Thaddeus Young on the bench have excellent defensive ability, Okogie is active in defense and has the ability to create offensive opportunities, Vogel should divide the playing time of Gordon and Eubanks, and the starter Allen + Beal + Booker's three-guard lineup is too different in height and size from the Timberwolves, which exacerbates the consumption of Durant and Nurkic on the defensive end.
As a head coach, you should understand that when a team has three super scorers, especially a playoff killer like Durant, the task of everyone else is to make the scorers comfortable, and the role players must be able to defend and grab rebounds, Vogel does the opposite, obsessed with small lineups. In both games, Durant worked hard, and every fourth quarter became a spectator in the bottom corner due to physical or tactical problems, while Booker and Beal's single efficiency was much lower than Durant's.
If Vogel doesn't change his mind, the Suns will have a round of travel, which is nothing for the young Booker and the unmotivated Beal, but the 36-year-old Durant faces an awkward position. After Durant left the Warriors, he always wanted to prove that he had the strength to lead the team to win the championship, but with his failure to the Nets and Suns and the Warriors winning the championship again in 21 years, the "Green formula" gradually closed the loop, and Durant had to accept the arrangement of fate, leaving the Warriors He will be without a championship for life.