Watching McGrady and Marion talking and laughing while returning to defense, Josh Smith felt so miserable. Back then, he and McGrady humiliated their opponents together, but this time he became the background.

O'Neal has worked very hard, but he can't retreat as fast as Brown.

Although O'Neal doesn't work hard in training, he never slacks off in games. During the Lakers' regular season, he struggled to play, mainly because of Kobe's support. Without Kobe, O'Neal always worked hard during games.

In two years, he made it to the Finals during the Magic era. At the end of his career with the Suns, he was quite serious in the game, but by this time he was no longer as courageous as before.

Josh Smith miserably picked up the ball and sent it to Nash. Nash controlled the rhythm and advanced towards the frontcourt.

With O'Neal here, running and gunning, pick-and-roll and fast offense are impossible. Fortunately, Nash is not only able to play fast break, but also plays positional warfare in the Mavericks. He is also an All-Star, and he was not the core of the Mavericks at the beginning.

After Nash advanced to the frontcourt, O'Neal was already in position inside.

O'Neal, who weighs 150 kilograms, is more powerful in his position inside. One defense and one defense cannot stop him from taking the position. Nash passes the ball to O'Neal, who is well positioned on the right side of the three-second zone.

However, O'Neal became more powerful, and his explosive power dropped severely. Kwame Brown was pushing him from behind. O'Neal couldn't hit it and dunk like he did last season. So, O'Neal chose to turn around, push his big butt, and rely on the static

Power squeezes Kwame Brown away.

However, although Kwame Brown has small hands, he has an excellent wingspan and good defensive judgment, limiting the space for O'Neal to turn to the basket behind the backboard!

At the same time, Diaw came up to help Nash block Liu Mang, Nash cut inside, and Prince switched defense.

O'Neal was indeed blocked by Kwame Brown, but it also allowed Kwame Brown to turn his back to the player in the high post! O'Neal passed the ball to Nash head-on, and Nash received the ball and made a layup...

Hit!

Prince's defense change was in place, but Nash and Liu Mang's similar on-the-fly layups were too difficult to guard against, and they were so fast. Nash, Prince, and Diaw scored two points together!

The vision brought by O'Neal's height of 2.16 meters is great, just like Yao Ming who doesn't have very good organizational skills but has two to three assists in every game for the Lakers.

You can learn anything, but you can't learn height.

"Use O'Neal as a pivot! This guy can figure it out!" Liu Mang glanced at Gentry on the sidelines.

Perhaps it's because he hasn't won the fourth championship yet. Not having one more championship than Kobe has become a knot in O'Neal's heart. Some things he was unwilling to do before are now doing quite well, such as becoming a supporting role and helping teammates pass the ball so that they can score.

This kind of thing.

Except for Raja Bell, the other four players on the Suns lineup can pass the ball!

Liu Mang became excited and quickly advanced after receiving a pass from Kwame Brown.

Speed ​​up!

Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt, and the Suns retreated very quickly. O'Neal dragged his big butt and ran back to the basket. As soon as Liu Mang reached the three-point line, Laga Bell immediately followed him.

Ragnarok Bale has reached his peak this season, with an ability rating of 79 and a defensive rating of 94.

Faced with Raja Bell's rough defensive action, Liu Mang wanted to pass the ball to McGrady, but the defensive player McGrady encountered was Josh Smith...

Now the lanky Diaw is guarding Marion. The Suns' positions 1 to 4 can switch defenses seamlessly!

Nash couldn't defend well, but his enthusiasm was enough to catch and shoot with Prince.

In this case, Liu Mang beckoned for Kwame Brown to pick and roll.

Kwame Brown came out to help Liu Mang block Laga Bell. After Liu Mang picked and rolled, before O'Neal could defend him, he shot a three-pointer from the right side of the top arc...

Missed!

But Marion, who cut in, easily tipped in and scored two points after McGrady, who cut in at the same time, helped block Diaw.

This is a style of play that the Suns cannot play. The Suns used to like to play like this, but at that time their center was Diaw or Stoudemire. Now it has become O'Neal. They can only watch the Hawks play like this.

In his peak period, O'Neal helped Kobe to block people and let Kobe take key shots. This was an important tactic for the Lakers during the OK combination period, but now O'Neal is really running.

When the Suns attacked, it was still O'Neal who received the ball from the basket to provide support. This time Marion stepped in early. Nash received O'Neal's pass and passed it to Diaw. Diaw's three-point shot from the corner... missed!

O'Neal was unable to grab a rebound at this position and was stuck under the basket by Kwame Brown. Liu Mang bypassed Josh Smith's pick-and-roll and rushed into the basket, grabbed the defensive rebound, and immediately counterattacked!

Liu Mang passed the ball to McGrady, who was one step ahead. After following up to the frontcourt, McGrady, who was being chased by Josh Smith and Raja Bell, passed the ball back to Liu Mang, who was following up. Liu Mang received the ball from the top of the arc for three seconds.

Break up...

Hit!

Liu Mang thought of the lines of the little mage in a later game...

If our roles were reversed...

Now the Hawks and Suns seem to have swapped roles. The Hawks are speeding up the counterattack and shooting unrestrained three-pointers, while the Suns are playing a positional battle.

However, although Nash is also good at positional warfare and offense, Josh Smith has no big problem, and he does a good job of cutting into blocks. O'Neal is an expert in positional warfare, but Laga Bell and Diaw are playing very uncomfortable and open.

The shooting rhythm is very poor.

The Eagles discovered this and actively contracted, not giving Josh Smith and Nash a chance to score. They left Diaw and Laja Bell open to catch and shoot. The two of them really couldn't make a shot at this pace.

.

For the Hawks, Liu Mang, McGrady, and Marion each hit a counterattack score. Liu Mang and McGrady each scored a three-pointer, and Marion had a counterattack catch dunk.

The Eagles went on a 10-4 run at the beginning of the game!

In addition to Nash scoring a floater, Josh Smith grabbed the offensive rebound and passed the ball to O'Neal, who scored two points with a floater. The Suns made all three three-pointers!

At three minutes and seventeen seconds of the first quarter, the Suns called a timeout!

…

The offense started well and the defense was very purposeful. However, the Eagles did not dare to be careless. A smooth start was expected. Laga Bell averaged 2.6 shots per game this season.

The marksman who ranked sixth in the league in three-pointers performed very poorly when he was on the ground. Diaw's three-pointers were average. This was already known from previous research on the Suns.

What comes next is the key!

During the timeout, the Hawks were making tactical arrangements for the Suns' likely sudden change of pace.

Sure enough, after the timeout, the Suns made substitutions. Kurt Thomas, a 2.06-meter forward nicknamed "Crazy Eyes," replaced O'Neal, Nash, Raja Bell, and Josh Smith.

Kurt Thomas, Diaw's lineup comes on.

The Eagles also made a substitution, replacing Prince, and the lineup of Liu Mang, Jason Terry, McGrady, Marion, and Kwame Brown came on.

The Suns, who immediately switched to a run-and-gun rhythm, immediately started racing after returning from the timeout.

The Eagles didn't want to press the rhythm. They felt good at the start and had good offensive efficiency. Of course, they had to continue shooting. The two teams started a crazy attack.

Liu Mang threw a three-pointer around the pick-and-roll and Nash scored two points in a counterattack. Liu Mang passed the ball to McGrady, and McGrady passed the ball to Marion for a layup. Nash passed the ball to Laga who was running.

- Bell, Laga - Bell hit a running shot and a three-pointer...

With the Suns' current lineup, their opponents simply cannot contain their counterattacks. Although Josh Smith does not have the mid-range shooting ability and the ability to attack the basket that Stoudemire has shown with the Heat this season, he can run better than Stad.

Demire is even faster! And his passing is much better than Stoudemire's. Josh Smith's scoring ability is better than Stoudemire's... he may never be able to catch up with him in his life, but Josh Smith's passing and speed

, Stoudemire will also never be able to catch up, and although Josh Smith's independent scoring ability is not as good as Stoudemire's, his pie-eating ability is no worse than Stoudemire's.

The six-point difference was nothing after the start of the game. Liu Mang led Nash with two assists at the beginning, but when the official timeout came, it was wiped out! The Eagles' two-point lead was wiped out.

A three-pointer, and at the official timeout, the Suns were chasing 2-3!

At the end of the first quarter, the Hawks only led the Suns by two points, 31-29!

In just over eight minutes, the Suns surged by 25 points!

Liu Mang scored 8 points and 3 assists in the first quarter, hitting two three-pointers and a second offensive tip-in.

The Suns have Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas, who defend the mid-range very well, but Liu Mang does not perform well in the mid-range, especially with their reinforcement this season, Kurt Thomas, who can handle Kwame Kwame at the basket.

Brown's mid-range shooter can block mid-range shooters, and he makes a lot of small moves and plays dirty. The nickname "Crazy Eyes" refers to his mad dog-like defense.

After the first quarter, Liu Mang looked at the data on the big screen and saw that Nash actually got 4 assists in just over 8 minutes!

Moreover, the Suns scored 3 three-pointers in the first quarter, which was only one less than the Eagles' 4 three-pointers!

The score is almost tied!

…

After playing the first quarter, Liu Mang was replaced by Rondo in the second quarter. Tracy McGrady and Jason Terry also came off, replaced by Korver, Battier, Granger's forward and defensive trio, and the center.

The position was replaced by Rasheed Wallace.

When playing against the Suns, one senior and four juniors are a must-have lineup.

Sure enough, the Suns also had a lineup with one senior and four juniors, Calderon, Barbosa, Jaylen Rose, Josh Smith, and O'Neal.

After the start of the second quarter, the Suns' rhythm suddenly changed again and entered an extremely slow rhythm. Calderon paired with O'Neal... there was a feeling that the old man fit perfectly!
Chapter completed!