The Auburn Hills Palace incident stole the spotlight.

Kobe scored 40+ points again last night. Six consecutive games with 40+ points is news, let alone a scoring duel between him and Wei Guo, yet no one seemed to notice.

This was the most impactful, most severely punished, and most egregious brawl in NBA history. The NBA's public image was severely damaged by this game, and Artest and several others were suspended by the league and even faced court charges.

This brawl affected many players...it arguably ruined Reggie Miller's ultimate championship dream.

Putting those things aside, the first thing that will affect is tonight's game against the Suns.

With most of the Pistons' key players suspended, the Pacers only had six or seven players available for this game, and these were all substitutes, against the league-leading Suns.

......

It was evening, and there were only thirty minutes left before the match started.

Only seven Pacers players were warming up with shooting drills, and nine-tenths of the seats in the huge arena were empty, with most of the attendees being patriotic fans.

Hitting a fan... has a terrible impact.

With about forty seconds left in the game, a second conflict broke out as the players were being escorted off the court. Artest broke free of security and rushed up to hit two young fans who were provoking him. Then... some fans threw drinks and food at O'Neal, and O'Neal got into a fight with the fans.

This incident resulted in very few spectators at home games.

The Suns will definitely win this game easily. Suns fans just need to prepare popcorn, duck wings, cola, and small beers... and quietly enjoy the game.

Starting lineup for this match:

Pacers: Gil, Fred, Jones, Kroshir, Harrison

Suns: Nash, Richardson, Johnson, Marion, Stoudemire

These five Pacers players were all substitutes before, and none of them averaged double-digit points per game. Even with a god-like perspective, looking back at their careers... they are all easily forgotten figures.

The Pacers' head coach is Rick Carlisle, and Gentry had a lot of dealings with Carlisle when he coached the Nets last season.

Back then...

There are two teams in the East that can be considered teammates of the Nets: the Pistons and the Pacers.

The two renowned coaches displayed contrasting expressions tonight. Carlisle sat on the bench with his arms crossed and a stern face. He loathed Artest and his irrational teammates. The league severely punishes players involved in fights, and Artest was barred from playing this season and had all his salary suspended, resulting in a loss of over four million dollars for Artest.

This fight was a huge loss...

Jackson was also suspended for 30 games, O'Neal was suspended for more than ten games, and even Miller was suspended.

The Pacers had a great chance to reach the NBA Finals this year, but this fight ruined it. This was the first matchup between the Pacers and the Suns this season. Carlisle had hoped to use this game as a preview of the Finals, but now the Suns are going to crush them.

Gentry, on the other hand, was quite relaxed, engrossed in reading a book.

If someone in a culture is familiar with Chinese, they can recognize the four large characters on the cover: Sun Tzu's Art of War.

......

Harrison and Stoudemire prepared for the jump ball. Because there were so few spectators, most of them were watching the game with their chins on their hands, and the atmosphere didn't feel like a basketball game.

"Beep!!!"

The whistle blew, and the basketball was tossed into the air.

Stoudemire passed the ball to Nash, Marion sprinted up the court, Nash made a long pass, and Marion caught the ball and made a layup.

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

2-0!!!

Even the substitute players are among the world's top basketball players; if you put them in other basketball leagues, they would be considered a game-changer.

But...

They have almost never started a game together and rarely play together. Their first start was against the Suns, the fastest team in the league.

It's normal to be a little confused.

Carlisle remained silent. As the head coach, he had little hope for this game. The Suns' 22-game winning streak was more impressive than any of the other 29 teams in the league, and... the Suns' bench also had a god-like figure, Wei Guo.

Fred is arguably the strongest fighter among the five!

He entered the league in 2002 and played for the Pacers. In his first season, he averaged less than 2 points per game, but he made great progress in his second season, averaging 5 points per game and playing nearly 20 minutes per game.

Gil organized an attack.

Harrison positioned himself under the basket to receive the ball, and Gil passed it to Harrison. Facing Stoudemire's defense, Harrison launched a high-arcing shot.

"Whoosh!!!"

He put the ball into the basket.

Wei Guo shook his head helplessly, "Stoudemire's defense needs improvement... that ball was easy to defend."

Harrison is 2.13 meters tall, five centimeters taller than Stoudemire. His high-post, high-hitting style is not as easy to defend as Wei Guo said. Wei Guo is right about one thing: Stoudemire's defense does need improvement.

You only find out who's been swimming naked when the river dries up; you can't tell until you're up against top centers like Garnett and Duncan.

But...

It's unacceptable that a substitute player like Harrison could take on Stoudemire one-on-one.

"Brother Wei..."

D'Antoni seemed to remember something, "Stoudemire mentioned to me that no one taught him how to defend."

This is Dian Weiguo.

Stoudemire had a wide range of offensive skills, and his offensive ability was probably among the top five of the interior players that season, but no one ever compared Stoudemire to players like Duncan and Garnett.

The main reason is that Stoudemire doesn't have much defensive awareness.

His shot-blocking ability relies solely on his jumping ability; he doesn't rely on anticipation and positioning like Wei Guo. If Stoudemire can develop his defense, he might actually be able to compete with players of Garnett's caliber.

"Brother Wei, what do you think?"

Having received no answer from Wei Guo, De Anton asked again.

D'Antoni also had his own ulterior motives...

It has become common practice for Wei Guo to change teams every season. If the Suns win the championship this season, Wei Guo will definitely leave the team, and he will also take Gentry and Cummings with him.

Wei Guo left the team...

Life goes on with the Suns, and D'Antoni is very likely to replace Gentry as the team's head coach.

The contracts of players like Stoudemire, Nash, and Marion will not expire, and the original core will remain... Of course, D'Antoni wants these players to be as strong as possible. Even if Weiguo leaves, the Suns will still be the strongest team in the league.

"I'll teach him when I have time."

Wei Guo shrugged. "However, Stoudemire's defensive awareness is poor, and that's not easy to teach."