The Suns' offense started smoothly, while the Jazz were still finding their form.
In the next offensive round, the Jazz finally took the lead.
Their first shot came from starting point guard Deron Williams.
After a pick-and-roll at the top of the arc, Deron squeezed through the crowd and headed towards the basket, easily putting the basket up!
2 to 7.
Deron's body is so strong that it feels unreal. His nickname of "Little Fatty" is not for nothing, let alone a player of the same position. When Deron is fully charged, even the inside can't stand up to him.
Like a small tank.
When the Suns attacked, Chen Yan opened his roll call manual and faced Okur again after a pick-and-roll switch.
"The Jazz adopted a defensive strategy again. Chen Yan and Okur were one-on-one outside the three-point line." Yu Jia explained in real time.
"Here it comes! Chen Yan, play with him!" Director Zhang shouted excitedly.
In the live broadcast on TV, Chen Yan was using both front and back movements to maneuver Okur's center of gravity.
Deron, who was not far away, saw this scene and felt that it was very familiar. The double change of direction in front of the body was Deron's famous stunt. This trick was very useful against big men.
I saw that Chen Yan first moved his crotch, handed the ball to his left hand and instantly shook his shoulders before changing direction. After returning the ball to his right hand, he shook his shoulders again, and then quickly handed the ball to his left hand.
Okur looked a little dazed, his body followed Chen Yan and allowed him to move.
After the double change, Chen Yan suddenly accelerated to the left. Oku twisted his body forcefully and was almost knocked down.
With the lessons learned from the previous round, the Jazz quickly recovered inside.
However, Chen Yan did not rush in. After getting out of the way, he took a small step and took a shot without pressure from the three-point line.
"Whoosh!"
The ball hit the target after spinning at high speed, and the net made a crisp sound.
2 to 10.
The home fans cheered heartily.
Chinese fans across the ocean were also excited.
"If you hit the wrong position, you will get it right!"
"Play assault in close combat and shoot sniper from long range. How to defend against this?"
"It's so comfortable to watch the little one playing with the big one!"
"Hahaha, does Chen Yan use Oku as a cash machine?"
Sloan called a timeout. He understood that he made a mistake in the opening. Okur's lack of mobility made him a big colander on the defensive end. CJ Miles' shooting ability was okay, but as a wing
As a player, his defensive ability is average, and his defensive coverage is incomparable to Kirilenko.
After the timeout, Sloan made personnel adjustments, removing CJ Miles and Okur and replacing them with Kirilenko and Millsap.
The Jazz's current lineup is very mobile, but its weaknesses are also obvious. The height of their two inside men is shorter than that of the Suns.
The game continues, Jazz has the ball.
Deron and Boozer launched a classic pick-and-roll at the top of the arc. Brewer helped Millsap with an off-ball screen from the baseline, and the latter cut into the basket.
After the pick-and-roll, Boozer pulled to the free throw line. Deron took two steps in and then observed Millsap's movement, and found Millsap with a very beautiful hit.
Deron has excellent vision. Under Sloan's training, he has been ranked in the top three in assists in the past few years.
Millsap turned around after receiving the ball and dunked with both hands!
4 to 10.
After landing, Millsap pumped his fist to celebrate. As soon as he came up, he dunked to help the team chase the score. He looked very excited.
Sun attack round.
This time they made a mistake in their cooperation after landing in position, and Nash's cross pass was intercepted.
Deron advanced quickly after taking the ball, and the Jazz's lineup on the court was also very mobile, with five players capable of fast breaks.
The Suns retreated very promptly. As a run-and-gun team, they knew what their opponents wanted to do at this time.
Deron did not get a chance to directly attack the basket. He pulled back from a 45-degree angle on the right side of the free throw line, took a step laterally and passed the ball to Boozer, who had just run into the penalty area.
Due to the fast break and retreat, the Suns were out of position. At this time, it was Lagar Bell who was guarding Boozer.
Without hesitation, Boozer smacked the basketball, then with a heavy shoulder, he pushed away Laga Bell and then made a strong attack under the basket.
6 to 10.
The Jazz's inner and outer cores are both muscular, extremely strong.
The Jazz scored consecutively, and just when their fans were getting better, the Suns quickly responded with a three-pointer.
Nash used the pick-and-roll and passed to Chen Yan on the wing. Chen Yan caught the ball and feinted, strode inside, attracted the attention of the defense, flicked his wrist, and found Nash outside the three-point line at the top of the arc. The latter made a three-pointer with his knife.
hit.
This is Nash's second three-pointer in this game. Seeing that he felt good in this game, Suns fans are relieved. If Chen Yan is the only one who can rely on Chen Yan in this level of confrontation in the playoffs, it will be very difficult.
Hard work.
Although the Jazz are ranked eighth in the Western Conference on paper, they are not a fuel-efficient team. They have two All-Star players on the team, and other role players are also very tough.
There was back and forth between the two sides in the next few rounds. The Suns did not expect to completely strangle their opponents on the defensive end. This is not their style of play. For the Suns, the only way to win is to maintain their offensive rhythm and make the shots that should be scored.
Base.
At the end of the first quarter, the Suns led 26-18.
The second quarter was a battle between the substitutes. The Jazz originally wanted to rely on the substitutes to recover some points, but unexpectedly the point difference was suddenly pulled to double digits by the Suns' second team.
The Jazz's victory over the Rockets in the playoffs in the past two years relied on the depth of their bench, but their advantage turned into a disadvantage in front of the Suns. The Suns' bench included Grant Hill, Azubuike, DeAndre Jordan, Barea,
White chocolate, Novak...any combination is more powerful than the Jazz bench players.
Except for Jordan, who was a little nervous in his first playoff appearance, the other players were comfortable in their respective positions.
The reason fans think the Jazz have a deep bench is entirely because of their peers. Look at the players on the Rockets bench, including Luther Hyde, Hayes, Bunchy Wells...
It's not that the Jazz's bench is too strong, but that the Rockets' bench is too weak. If these players were placed in the Jazz, they would basically be unable to play.
The Jazz's bench lineup has a lot of holes. Knight and Halprin are basically out of gas, and they can't keep up with the Suns' running and gunning rhythm.
Halprin was a strong player back then, averaging 17.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game at his peak. Many experts said that if he had not been in the highly disciplined Jazz, he might have made the All-Stars long ago.
In the past two years, Halprin was still in good shape, and his defense was very tough. He was affectionately called "McDick Star" by fans because he made McGrady uncomfortable every time.
However, this season his average data dropped to 4.4 points and 2 rebounds per game due to age and injuries. It is estimated that no one can beat him except himself.
Knight is even more exaggerated. He will retire after this season. He is the biggest defensive black hole on the Jazz bench. His speed is so slow that even Grant Hill, who is also a veteran, can kill him when he finds the right opportunity.
He passed by in one step.
Knight is the one who is named on the Jazz bench. Barea, Azubuike, and Old Hill can all pass him by in one step.
At the point guard position, their bench also had no credible role. Ronnie Price contributed two turnovers in three minutes.
Ronnie Price was not very reliable to begin with, and he was plagued by injuries this season, so he couldn't even produce a slightly more stable performance.
Sloan had no choice but to replace Deron early, which is what the Suns wanted to see.
Deron showed his strong physical fitness as soon as he came up and scored 21 on Barea's head.
Barea is strong enough, but his height is a bit smaller than Deron's. There are few point guards in the entire league who are taller and stronger than Deron.
Chen Yan and Nash are not in a hurry to play. The team's lead is still double digits. They plan to use the substitutes to consume more of Deron's energy.
Looking back, Barea took advantage of the screen and hit a mid-range hit in return.
Deron scored consecutively during this period, but the Suns' second team also had uninterrupted firepower. They did not let Deron get too much advantage. Halfway through the second quarter, the point difference between the two sides was only reduced to 10 points.
Barkley joked that if the Jazz wanted to beat the Suns, Deron would have to play almost every game.
After Chen Yan and Nash reappeared, they continued to play exquisite cooperation. Chen Yan first cut to the basket and scored two points, and then caught the ball at the top of the arc and hit a three-pointer.
Chen Yan used the easiest way to maintain the point difference, while Deron was just the opposite. He had to fight hand-to-hand every round and looked very tired.
My physical fitness decreases very quickly when I play like this. It's not obvious now in the second quarter, but it will become more obvious as the game goes on.
At halftime, the Suns led 57-45 by 12 points.
The Jazz broke out in the third quarter. After the intermission, Deron and Boozer recovered their physical fitness. They started a crazy melee mode in this quarter. After pick-and-roll, they frequently entered the inside to cause damage. The Jazz's other killer Korver was also there.
He played a long time in this quarter, and he was responsible for hitting three-pointers from the outside when Deron or Boozer was flanked.
tv5 announced the SMS support rate of both parties.
The support rate between the two sides is 98% to 2%, which is very outrageous. The Suns are now the favorite team of domestic fans, while the Jazz are the most hated team in the country because they have offended Chinese fans, so the contrast is so stark.
At the end of the third quarter, the score difference reached single digits. The Jazz played very tenaciously, but I didn't expect that this was the closest point in the game.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, it started to rain at America West Arena, and it rained three points.
In just three minutes, the Suns scored 6 three-pointers, including Novak's two, Laja Bell's two, and Chen Yan and Nash's one each.
When Sloan called the second timeout in three minutes, the difference between the two sides had reached 18 points.
"This kind of explosive scoring power is the reason why the Suns ranked first in the league in the regular season. They are good at killing their opponents in one wave." Barkley analyzed during the timeout.
"We call this sudden death. The Sun's style of play is like a dose of poison, a poison that will cause the opponent to die suddenly."
After the timeout, the Jazz still didn't want to give up. Deron wanted to lead the team and counterattack, but the impact of his declining physical strength was reflected at this time. He missed one shot after another, and even his free throws became less stable.
Sloan originally wanted to stand and die and fight until the end, but after looking at the 25-point difference, he still chose to give up and save his energy.
At the end of the game, 114 to 93.
The Suns got off to a good start in the playoffs with a big win!