In a just-concluded NBA regular season focus battle, the Phoenix Suns, who were sitting at home, relied on Crowder's key defense and Booker's reversal in the fourth quarter to defeat the visiting Atlanta Hawks in the unfavorable situation of being established with a 12-point lead in the third quarter. In this game, the core players of both sides, Trae Young and Devon Booker, staged a stable performance, and both sides unanimously clenched the score. However, in the third quarter, the Eagles played a very beautiful offensive wave, establishing a 12-point lead in one fell swoop, and although the Suns caught up in the fourth quarter, especially Booker's superstar play, the Suns won the game. Let's take a closer look at how the two sides played in this game.
Trae Young became more and more stable, Collins and Capela dominated the inside, and the shooters exploded
On the Eagles side, the team's internal and external core Trae Young and John Collins, both played very well in this game. As you can see, after last season's Eastern Conference Finals, the morale and team status of the entire Eagles team have remained quite good. Facing the long-established "master of possession" Chris Paul, Trae Young, who has entered the league for the fourth year, showed "master", and he scored 31 points and 13 assists in the whole game.
Under Paul's defense, he was still able to organize and control the field without falling behind, and even performed much better than Paul in this game. Trae Young scored 14 points in the third quarter of building an advantage, using mid-range shots and three-pointers respectively, which was a key factor in the turning point of the game. However, by the fourth quarter, Trae Young was still a little more immature compared to the old Suns. Not only was paul defensively defended against a series of mistakes, but also dud on the offensive end, contributing only 2 points in the fourth quarter, and the Eagles, like Young, all turned off the fire and ultimately failed to save almost the victory.
In this game, the team's interior line-ups John Collins and Capela almost dominated the Suns' penalty area. Without Ayton, the Suns were almost empty, and it was difficult to form an effective defense.
The young Collins used his excellent interior skills and strong body to score consecutive points, scoring a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds. Although Capela is generally offensive, but still for the team to pick up 13 rebounds, under the leadership of the inside "twin towers", the Eagles took a total of 14 frontcourt rebounds, while the Suns only 5, their rush and protection of rebounds, is the Eagles can establish a lead,
And the biggest reason to keep the suspense of the game until the end.
In addition, the team's top scorers Pogdanovic, Gallinari and Hurth have all contributed considerable points in this game, and their performance outside the three-point line is also an important reason why the Eagles have been able to lead most of the time. But in the fourth quarter, it was also their flames that put the entire team's offense to a standstill.
In the fourth quarter, the whole team only scored 19 points, which is undoubtedly lacking in experience and control of rhythm.
Booker broke out, Paul got up in the fourth quarter, and the team was at the bottom of the problem.
In this game, the biggest reason why the Suns were able to complete a big reversal and win was undoubtedly the strong play of Devin Booker, who stood up and continued to strengthen the team when the team fell into a scoring drought, otherwise the disadvantage in the third quarter would only grow bigger and bigger. In addition, the fourth quarter was also his consecutive scoring, biting the score and finally helping the team complete the rebound.
He scored 38 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in the game, which is undoubtedly the team's great hero. I have to say that although Booker's state has been a bit erratic for a while after the start of the game, his performance in recent games has gradually found the feeling of last season, and how the Suns have recorded this year depends very much on Booker.
In addition, the team's point guard Chris Paul, although he did not have a very bright performance in the first three quarters, but his past experience and skillful possession ability made him a savior in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, he scored 10 points and 5 assists in a single quarter, and was the mastermind behind the big reversal. Especially in the face of Trae Young, who performed hot in the first three quarters,
Paul used his unique defensive skills to keep him out of the woods in the fourth quarter. And the rhythm of the game was pulled back to the Suns. The stable mid-range investment and all-round organization vaguely let people see the peak of Paul. With 16 points and 13 assists, he is the Suns' best player besides Booker.
However, although the game was won, the crux of the team remained. Neither McGee nor Kaminsky will be able to replace Ayton's huge role in the team. This had to be done some time earlier, and the Suns caused a huge controversy over the behavior. While most teams have successively renewed contracts with the 18th grade rookies, there has been a disagreement between the Suns and Ayton.
The Suns are blunt, Ayton is not worthy of the top salary, and this also hurtSton's heart to some extent. Now it seems that the role of the injured Ayton on the team can not be replaced by anyone, so does the Suns regret it?