Phoenix, Mercy Arena.
As the lights dim, tonight's battle will begin.
The visiting Lakers' starting five made their debut, and Karl Malone was the first to appear.
Immediately afterwards, Duan came to the court again in the second order of appearance.
Then there's Grant, Payton in the finale, and Kobe in the final appearance.
After the visiting team players finished playing, the Suns' starting five from the home team also appeared one after another.
The first one to appear was Stoudemire, who was also a power forward, then small forward Marion, followed by center Jack Voskull, and shooting guard Joe alone.
Finally, Marbury came on stage amidst the cheers of MVP.
It is worth mentioning that Marbury was caught drunk driving during the offseason last year and was sentenced to 10 days in jail and one game suspension. Marbury was already infamous.
But with his strong personal strength, he was selected to the All-Star and All-NBA third teams, and helped the Suns reach the playoffs.
Although they were kicked out by their opponents in the first round of the playoffs, it was the championship team Spurs that defeated the Suns, so that's okay.
After hearing the news here, it can be basically confirmed that Marbury is quite popular in Phoenix.
Obviously, the vast majority of fans are more realistic and will enthusiastically support the star as long as they can bring them victory.
There is one thing to say, Marbury is at his peak at this time, and his personal condition is indeed very good.
At the beginning of the game, Marbury faced Payton's defense and played singles with the ball. He directly crossed the step, changed direction, stopped and then changed direction, which made Payton dizzy.
Marbury's first step was too fast and his body control was excellent. Payton, who had old arms and legs, couldn't keep up with Marbury's rhythm and was completely beaten.
Neither Malone nor Grant on the inside are known for protecting the rim. Marbury scored two points with a clean layup as soon as he came up.
In the previous preseason, Payton suffered a loss against Marbury. In the Lakers' offensive round, Payton did not force himself to play.
Although Marbury's defense is average, it is much better than Nash.
Now Payton's offense mainly relies on breakthroughs. Marbury's physical fitness requires speed and speed, and requires confrontation and confrontation. Payton really has nothing to do with Marbury.
After halftime, Payton simply handed the ball to Kobe.
This made Kobe a little confused: "During the preseason, it didn't seem like this was how we played, right?"
However, having the ball in hand is not a bad thing. Even if Marion takes the initiative to defend him, Kobe is not afraid at all.
Leaning in with his back, Marion tried to reach a comfortable half-basket area. Marion wanted to push Kobe out, but couldn't bear Kobe's big elbow, so he backed down.
Joe did not remain indifferent in the singles and chose to let go of Duan and double-team Kobe.
Sure enough, just as Joe had thought in singles, instead of passing the ball, Kobe shot a fadeaway jumper.
Duang——
As always, Kobe tried the performance of the basket when he came up and found that it was quite resistant and the sound of the iron was also very good.
At this moment, Duen, who was left unattended, took the opportunity to rush to the basket.
Although Duan's rebound prediction attribute is not high, his basic judgment is still no problem, not to mention that there are Malone and Grant blocked under the basket.
Without anyone interfering around him, Duan successfully grabbed the offensive rebound and then continued to rush to the basket.
Jack Voskull came to help defend, but when Duan saw this, he realized that he was playing into his heart. He stopped for a moment, knocked the opponent away, and then skillfully drew a foul and shot.
2+1, using Kobe to attract the defense, Duan got an offensive rebound as soon as he came up, scored a goal, and got an extra penalty opportunity.
The extra penalty was a solid hit, and the Lakers overtook the Suns by 1 point.
But in the blink of an eye, during a fast break under the sun, Payton failed to keep up with Marbury, and Marbury scored a goal from the basket.
"Give me the ball and I'll take care of him for you! You go guard that rookie later."
Kobe couldn't stand it. While asking Payton for the ball, he told Payton that he would guard Marbury next.
Payton was very angry when he heard this: "Do you think I can't defeat him? I have a hundred ways to defeat him."
If it were an opponent, Kobe would have already started trash-talking him—did you guard him before? If your defense is half as tough as your mouth, you can defend me!
But now they are teammates and we have to compete for the championship together. Kobe just said lightly: "I am the boss of the team!"
The implication is to ask Payton to listen to him and not think too much about anything else.
Payton thought at this time: "The Lakers boss I recognize is not you, I come here for Shaq.
And I already have a good relationship with Karl and Du En, why should I listen to you?
You look down on me, right? You want the ball, right? I just won't let you get what you want! "
Payton dribbled past half court, but instead of doing what Kobe said, he passed the ball to Duane.
Kobe was a little angry and clapped his hands towards Payton. At the same time, Duan started to attack on his own.
Because Marion took the initiative to defend Kobe, it was Joe who appeared in front of Duan.
After playing against each other in the preseason, Doon already has some successful experience in singles against Joe Johnson.
First, he turned his back to play inside, and then found space to rush in. However, unexpectedly, as soon as Duan passed Joe in isolation, Marion actually let go of Kobe and came to help defend.
Instead of having his own way, Duan passed the ball to Kobe who was in the open position.
Kobe didn't expect that he would be left open, but after receiving the ball, he didn't hesitate and immediately shot a jumper.
The speed of Joe's defense in isolation was obviously slower. Kobe relied on Duan's pass to steadily hit the mid-range shot, and then immediately ran to the backcourt without any celebration.
Obviously, under the influence of Dunn's lubricant, Kobe no longer complained to Payton: "Why don't you pass the ball to me?"
When Duan, Payton and others saw Kobe taking the lead in returning to defense, they immediately followed Kobe's footsteps.
The Suns failed to push up the fast break and could only stay in position and fight.
When Marbury saw Kobe coming to defend him, he did not choose to force the ball, but passed the ball to Joe in isolation.
In singles, Joe is half a head taller than Payton. He has a big advantage in height. In addition, singles is his strongest area.
The one-on-one Joe lowered his center of gravity and dribbled the ball quickly, pretending to break through to the basket. Payton stepped forward to interfere, but was half-stepped by the one-on-one Joe.
By the time Payton turned around to catch up, Joe had already made a jump shot in isolation.
Fortunately, the mid-range shooting rate often does not exceed 50%. In isolation, Joe's emergency stop jump shot was very handsome, but the ball failed to hit successfully.
It is precisely because of this that even if Payton's defense was out of position, it did not cause a catastrophe.
Malone protected the rebound and immediately passed it to Payton not far away.
Payton quickly dribbled the ball forward, broke into the penalty area with the help of a fast break, attracted the defense, and then passed the ball back to Malone.
Malone did not choose to dunk, but played healthy basketball. After making a layup, he slipped under the basket and immediately returned to defense.
The Lakers were well prepared to defend against fast breaks, and Marbury was targeted by Kobe again. He could only score seven or eight points despite his tenth strength.
In this case, the Suns can only hope that others can step forward.
Marbury felt that Joe had no problem playing alone, but he just didn't put the ball into the basket, so he continued to pass the ball to Joe.
And Marbury did not disappoint in singles with Joe. This time he finally succeeded in singles with Payton, making Payton the biggest defensive hole on the field.
It seems that Payton felt that he couldn't save face because he kept being called out, and he failed to guard against it, so he became angry.
This time, instead of passing the ball to Duen, he asked Duen to step forward and play a pick-and-roll with him.
Duan needed Payton on the bench to help him share the pressure of holding the ball, so he was not unhappy when he stepped forward to be a tool man this time.
Payton used Duan's cover to break into the Suns penalty area, but was still blocked by Stoudemire. In the blink of an eye, Marion came from behind.
Thanks to Malone's constant shouting and raising his hand for the ball, Payton promptly passed the ball after hearing the news. Malone took the ball and shot directly from the mid-range, adding an assist to Payton.
But then Marion also started to exert his strength. Duan was able to defend Marion fairly well, but Marion was a master of pick-and-rolls and chaos.
Relying on the pick-and-roll cooperation with Marbury, Marion frequently pushed Duan before running down the court, and then ran to the basket to eat the cake.
This level of confrontation is allowed these days. If it were the small ball era, unless the star had a whistle, it would be a foul.
Payton saw that Duen suffered a lot, and he also fed Duen a ball during a transition attack.
Duen didn't pay much attention to this. After all, he was still young, and rookies would always have to pay for their lack of defensive experience.
After suffering several losses, Du En gradually understood when to keep up with Marion and when to call on his teammates to help defend.
However, Marion can also pass the ball. When faced with a double-team at the basket, he will hand the ball to Stoudemire.
The Suns start with a three-and-a-half-star lineup, and it's not that easy to completely defend them.
There was nothing that could be done about Marion and Marbury. Duane and Payton played for more than six minutes in the first quarter and were removed from the court to recharge their batteries for the off-peak trip in the second quarter.
After replacing Fisher, Kobe finally got a lot of ball rights and was able to unleash his long-awaited offensive desire.
However, it was not as vigorous as the legendary rushing game. I played more than 10 minutes in the first quarter and made 3 of 7 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist. It can only be said to be quite satisfactory.
24 to 26, the Lakers trailed the Suns by 2 points in the first quarter.
As the game entered the second quarter, the Lakers quickly turned around, because the Suns initially led the team with Penny Hardaway, singles Joe and Stoudemire.
Marion rested off the court, and the Suns' defense dropped a lot.
Although Hardaway can connect the team and attack with the ball, defense is not his strong point, not to mention that after a serious injury, his defensive ability further declined.
As for Joe and Stoudemire in isolation, they are not players who are good at defense.
As soon as Duan came up, he started a pick-and-roll with Payton, switched to Hardaway, and used a high post to get to the basket.
In order to limit Duan's offense, the Suns' forward group had to double-team in advance, and Duan passed the ball to Payton or Devin George.
Duane didn't have many chances to score by himself, but Payton and Devin George played very comfortably.
Payton can't play as a fast-footed defender, but he can still play as a slower-footed forward.
Devin George has open opportunities, can get to the basket and shoot. In the second quarter, with Duan's assist, he also played impressively.
Duen and Payton's pick-and-roll cooperation produced the triangle offensive effect that Jackson wanted, and the Lakers quickly recovered the point difference.
The Suns had to replace Marbury and Marion on the court in advance, and the Lakers also immediately sent Kobe and Malone.
Payton and Duen led the bench together, and used Duen to attract the defense and get a lot of data. Most of the anger that no one could guard against in the first quarter dissipated, and he was more than willing to pass the ball to Kobe in the second quarter.
However, Malone performed better in the second quarter, making 3 of 4 shots and 5 of 6 free throws. He scored 11 points and 3 rebounds in just half a quarter.
Duan almost played the entire second quarter and only made 2 of 5 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, 7 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists.
Counting 5 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist in the first quarter, Duan had 12 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists in the first half.
If this continues, even if the substitute lineup may face double-team defense again, Duan is still expected to perform 20+10+5 tonight.
Although not as amazing as his debut in the opening game, as long as he can produce a double-double, he is worthy of making headlines as a rookie.
"Would you like to try fighting in the sewer?"
