Legendary star

Chapter 91 First win of the playoffs

"Okay, hurry up and rest." In the first quarter of the game between the two sides, except for the Spurs who replaced Mario Elio with Sean Etrio, the rest of the starting players of the two teams did not rest for a minute. Played the full 1 minutes.After Sean Etrio came on the field, Meng Xu went to the 12nd position. Defending Hardaway was much more tiring than Marion. After Meng Xu left the field, he leaned on the chair with his legs straight, his eyes closed, Panting heavily.

Marion's physical condition is excellent. Although he can run and jump, his technique is still a bit rough and his ability to hold the ball is poor. As long as Meng Xu presses down, Marion will be at a loss.But Hardaway is different. Although his body is not as good as before due to injuries, his skills and experience are still there, and Meng Xu is not the kind of defensive player with excellent physical fitness. It is also a bit difficult to defend against Hardaway alone.

In the first quarter of the game, the Suns also fell into a dilemma. They wanted to play fast but couldn't get up to speed at all. The team lacked the kind of players who could make a final decision in a positional battle. It seemed that the outside line had an advantage, but Can't play at all.Although the Suns are now playing small ball tactics, their scoring methods are still based on fast breaks and mid-range shots.After the first quarter, although the two teams did not score much, the Suns trailed the Spurs by 14 points 23-9.

Unlike the relaxed and happy side of the Spurs bench, the Suns side was a bit gloomy. The players rested silently, while Scott Skiles and his assistant coach were racking their brains to find a way. Obviously, the current situation on the court was beyond his expectation.

"Damn it." The young and energetic Marion threw the towel on the ground. After the coach arranged the starting game, Marion originally wanted to show off his power, but after playing, he was humiliated by Meng Xu. Forget it, even the old guy Sean Etrio can't do it.

"Okay, we haven't lost yet, take the time to rest, and we will catch up in the next game." As an old player and the leader of this team, Hardaway knows that the Suns have too many young players. Just like my former Magic team, the weakness of young players is that they have big mood swings and are not good at playing against the wind. Many of them are like tigers with the wind and dead dogs with the wind.Thinking of this, Hardaway felt a little nostalgic for the days when he fought side by side with that big fat man. If the two hadn't parted ways back then, they should have won the championship trophy long ago.

"Anferney, you're still going to be the main attacker in the next game. Robinson, you have to pull out a little more, Sean, and cover for Anferney. If we can't move back in the second quarter, we're done for this game." Scott Skiles doesn't have much to do here. After all, he is still a rookie. This is the first time he has coached a team, and his on-the-spot adaptability is far inferior to those veterans.

After playing for 3 minutes in the second game, Scott Skiles called a timeout and replaced the main players. After re-entering the field, Cliff Robinson often just went to the inside and slipped around, and ran outside the 3-point line Wandering around, Duncan was either defensive or not, and Hardaway dragged his traumatized body, desperately hitting the Spurs' inside line.

"Is this kid crazy?" When he saw Hardaway fell heavily to the ground under the attack of Meng Xu and Duncan, George Gervin in the commentary seat couldn't help shaking his head.

The moment Hardaway fell to the ground, he passed the ball to Cliff Robinson who ran out of space behind him, and Robinson made a 3-pointer.As a power forward, Clifford averaged 3 4-point shots this season, and his shooting percentage also reached 38%.

"Aren't you in pain?" Meng Xu pulled Hadaway, who was grinning, and asked without thinking.

"For dreams and beliefs." Although Hardaway's voice was very small, it was still heard by Meng Xu.

In the second quarter, relying on Hardaway's personal performance, the situation on the court was gradually reversed, but the Suns still couldn't move the point difference back to within 5 points.

After gradually adapting to Hardaway's way of playing, Meng Xu also changed his defensive strategy against Hardaway after the official timeout in the second quarter. As soon as Hardaway crossed the center line, Meng Xu would post it.Although Hardaway does not despise every player in his bones, it was not until this time that Hardaway realized why so many people appreciated Meng Xu's defense and supported him to be elected the best defensive player of the season.

Meng Xu and Hardaway are similar in height, but Meng Xu has an advantage in wingspan, and Meng Xu has very good movement speed and reaction speed. Hardaway's proud breakthrough and cut can't be used at all now.Even Hardaway wanted to use fake moves to get rid of Meng Xu, but Meng Xu saw through without exception. As the two entangled each other for longer and longer, Hardaway was surprised that he became nervous. You must know that Hardaway has never been nervous in front of any player except facing his idol Jordan back then.

"The Suns are finished." The situation on the court couldn't be clearer. When the Suns can't play the basketball they are good at and the team's current offensive core is somewhat restricted, the result of this game is already predictable.

In this game, the Suns' outside shooters did not perform at their due level. These players who are good at playing fast, after slowing down, even couldn't even shoot accurately. In this game, the Suns' outside shooters, 3 The ball is only 7 of 1 shots so far.

When the second quarter ended, the Suns basically had no chance, 38 to 54. Relying on an 8-0 spurt at the last moment, the Spurs had already led the Suns by as much as 16 points at the end of the second quarter.

In the end, amid the cheers of the fans, the Spurs defeated the Suns 91 to 83 at home. The Spurs have already taken advantage of the 5-game 3-win series.

What was supposed to be a close match turned out to be one-sided, which was beyond everyone's expectations.The Suns can't start the game on the offensive end, and they can't defend against the Spurs' twin towers. If they still can't find a way to break the Spurs' defense in the next game, then the Suns' playoff journey is basically over.

Hardaway scored a game-high 36 points, and also sent 8 assists and 6 rebounds, but also made 4 turnovers, basically under Meng Xu's pressing defense.

Due to the large lead, Meng Xu didn't play at all in the fourth quarter. He made 1 of 0 shots in the game and scored 1 point. It was also the first time in Meng Xu's career. Rebounds, including 14 offensive rebounds alone.

(End of this chapter)