After a series of ceremonies, both sides started standing in the center circle.
It can be seen that the Suns have made some fine-tuning to the lineup, and Matt Barnes replaced DeAndre Jordan in the starting lineup.
You don't need a tall big man to beat the Jazz. Height and mobility are more important than height. The Jazz's two big men, Oku and Boozer, are not very lethal in the penalty area.
Boozer's most relied-upon scoring method is mid-range shots and pick-and-roll moves. He is best at getting the ball above and below his waist, then transferring it to the upper line through a half-turn posture, and then putting the ball behind the right side of his head.
An extremely awkward shot.
And Okur, the Jazz's other inside man, can be regarded as a high-powered turret. He is only 211cm tall and floats outside the three-point line during most offenses.
The two formed the inside line of that Jazz team. The two people who loved shooting were called the "soft-ass combination" by many tough guy centers in the league at that time.
Against such a combination, the Suns' inside line will not face much pressure.
Although Stoudemire was announced to have recovered, he did not return for this game.
Stoudemire appeared on the sidelines wearing a black suit to cheer for his teammates.
D'Antoni has his own considerations about Stoudemire's comeback. In a situation like his, he is afraid of getting injured if he returns too early, and if he enters a deeper stage of the playoffs too late, he is afraid of damaging the team's chemical reaction. He must be cautious.
The Jazz continue the regular season starting lineup, with point guard Deron, shooting guard Brewer, small forward CJ Miles, power forward Boozer, and center Okur.
AK47 Kirilenko, the team's highest-paid player, was excluded from the starting lineup by Sloan long before the start of the season.
Head coach Jerry Sloan's explanation for this was that sixth man Matt Harpling had to undergo ankle surgery due to an undecided return date. In order to continue the firepower of the bench, the Jazz decided to let CJ Miles switch to the main small forward.
Instead, Kirilenko was asked to assume the sixth man role.
This explanation seems reasonable, but if you think about it carefully, there are still many loopholes. First of all, Kirilenko is not the kind of player with strong firepower. Let him play
As the referee blew the whistle, the Phoenix Suns ushered in their first playoff appearance of the 2008-09 season!? Diaw missed a jump ball at the beginning, and the Jazz got an offensive opportunity in the first round.
This was the first time in Diaw's career that he stood in midfield and played the ball. He was obviously not used to this role, and his jump was half a beat too slow.
Deron dribbled the ball to the top of the arc, and the Suns started with a hybrid defense of two-man marking and three-man zone defense.
When the attacking team has two more threatening players.
When the other three players are not strong in offensive ability, they are very suitable for this defensive strategy. This is the case with the Jazz's starting lineup. Just be optimistic about Deron and Boozer. The other three players have no independent offensive ability.
Deron didn't ask for a pick-and-roll in the first round. After passing the ball, Deron took two steps to the left and passed the ball to Brewer on the wing.
Chen Yan directly let him go. Brewer's three-point shooting percentage this season is 25.6%. He averages one shot per game and hits 0.3 goals. If he throws it into Chen Yan, he will admit it.
Chen Yan is very familiar with Brewer. The opponent is considered his old rival. The two have played against each other during March Madness. Brewer represented the University of Florida. In that game, Brewer was almost psychologically tortured by Chen Yan.
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Brewer felt that he had been insulted. After a pause, he still did not have the courage to take action, so he chose to hang to Boozer on the inside.
Boozer picked up the ball with his back, and Chen Yan immediately covered him up, preventing him from turning around.
Boozer is a typical inside man who likes to attack facing the frame. If you don't let him turn around, he will basically be useless.
Chen Yan is the steal leader this season. Boozer knows that he starts very quickly and doesn't even dare to move the ball directly to the outside.
Brewer still didn't dare to take action, but the huge space gave him a chance to break through and accelerate.
After a move, Brewer started to go to the basket. Barnes let go of Boozer to make up for it. Brewer took off and turned around in the air to find Boozer.
It was a good idea. If the ball was passed to Boozer, it would be an opportunity to defeat the opponent. However, when the ball flew halfway, Chen Yan suddenly stepped in front of Boozer and intercepted the ball.
"Oh, what a great shot! It's taboo to jump to pass the ball. Brewer paid the price for his carelessness." Zhang Liyi shouted.
"Chen Yan quickly launched a counterattack after stealing the ball, which was very fast!" Yu Jia roared.
Chen Yan pushed the ball forward under his center of gravity and quickly brought the ball across the center line.
Laga Bell ran diagonally in front of Chen Yan without the ball. On the Jazz side, only Deron retreated to half court.
The Suns got the opportunity to play more fast breaks at the beginning.
Chen Yan glanced at Laga Bell during the game, and then suddenly jumped up and glided for a layup!
Eye deception!
Masters often exchange moves in a split second. When Delong reacted, Chen Yan had already jumped into the air. If Delong wanted to stop Chen Yan, he could only pay a foul, but it was obvious that he didn't want to do this. Now he was so far away
The opening scene only lasted less than thirty seconds.
"A clean layup! The Suns played their best rhythm at the beginning!" Barkley said.
"Steal the ball, counterattack, hit the ball quickly, and do it all in one go. This is Chen's favorite way to score." Kenny Smith laughed.
Brewer shook his head. In the round just now, he was purely innocent and was manipulated by Chen Yan.
The Jazz resumed their attack.
Chen Yan continued to manipulate Krul.
This time he still chose to let Krul go, but this time it was not a three-pointer but a mid-range shot.
Brewer failed to make a three-pointer, but he still dared to take a shot from the mid-range. Seeing Chen Yan letting himself go, Brewer was very angry. Isn't this looking down on others?
Brewer decisively took aim at the frame, and the moment he raised his hand, Chen Yan sped forward and pounced!
Brewer was startled and hit the ball on the backboard with too much force.
Chen Yan's defensive strategy is targeted. If he encounters a shooter with a fast and stable shot, he will never take two steps, because no matter how fast he is, it will be difficult to interfere with the opponent's shot. But Brewer is
The kind of player who shoots extremely slowly.
This stems from his weird way of shooting, and this way of shooting cannot be changed, because Brewer encountered a very serious car accident when he was a child. In that accident, Brewer injured his right hand. Until now, his right hand is still injured.
His arms still cannot be fully straightened, which means he needs more space to take action, otherwise he will be easily disturbed.
The basketball bounced out of the frame, and Diaw turned around and firmly protected the backboard.
After Chen Yan landed, he ran directly towards the frontcourt without looking back.
Diaw didn't hesitate and threw it forward with one hand.
Okur and Boozer on the inside both turned around, and no one interfered with Diaw's pass. Diaw accurately guided the quarterback's long pass to find Chen Yan.
The ball was delivered very comfortably in advance, and Chen Yan could receive the pass without slowing down.
After receiving the ball, Chen Yan accelerated in the second stage and rushed towards the basket.
Chen Yan's speed increase was so exaggerated that it immediately attracted the attention of the Jazz's retreating players.
Chen Yan started against two defensive players, got inside, then turned around and threw away from the outside.
Jazz players were shocked, Nash was empty!
Chen Yan observed Nash's position before breaking through, and the ball was passed very cleanly.
After receiving the ball at the top of the arc, Nash leaned slightly forward due to inertia and shot.
It was too late for Deron to pounce at this time, and he could only watch helplessly as Nash hit a three-pointer.
The Jazz attacked, and they adopted a pick-and-roll tactic this round.
The Jazz's offensive failure in the first two rounds was not because of how good the Suns' defense was, but because their offense was so incompetent.
After the pick and roll, Deron hit the ground and passed the ball to Boozer. Boozer used a cannon posture to throw the ball near the elbow area.
"Clang!"
There was no defensive interference in front of him, but Boozer failed to make the shot, and the rebound was again collected by Diaw.
The Jazz didn't score a point in the first three rounds, so tonight was a rough night.
Nash dribbled the ball past half court, Raja Bell retreated to the bottom corner, and Barnes and Diaw also tried to open up as much space as possible.
This is the advantage of having all players capable of shooting, and there won't be a bunch of people huddled together in the penalty area.
After Nash directed his teammates' positions, he handed the ball to Chen Yan, and the Suns entered their first positional attack since the start of the game.
Chen Yan grabbed the ball with one hand and stood still. He was not in a hurry to beat Brewer in isolation, but instead called a pick-and-roll with less effort.
Diaw failed to catch Brewer in the first shot, and his pick-and-roll quality was average.
After a pause, Chen Yan pulled back and walked in the opposite direction, using Dior's wall to block Brewer.
Chen Yan took a step to the left, and Oku quickly switched defenses. No one in the entire league was wary of Chen Yan's shooting ability.
Chen Yan took two steps back to move Okur out of the three-point line. Chen Yan has a lot of experience in playing against such a big man who is not very mobile. He just uses his own flexibility.
As soon as Oku stood still, Chen Yan made a big move to pull him back, and then he worshiped Buddha again.
A series of combos almost ended Okur's ankle.
Okur's body type can only hold up a big man, so asking him to bend down to guard against Chen Yan is really embarrassing for him.
After breaking through Oku's defense, Chen Yan went to the outside of the penalty area and hit a small shot before the defensive player came up.
0:7.
In the playoffs, Chen Yan obviously played more concisely and efficiently than in the regular season. He hoped to use the least amount of energy to score the most points and help the team win.
Domestic fans were very happy to see Okur defeated. Okur is the league's favorite center for military training Dayao. His shooting range is very exaggerated, which gives Dayao a headache every time. Now this white big man is beaten by another Chinese player.