The Suns' defense is far inferior to the Pistons'.

Those Pistons guys were like mad dogs...

O'Neal suffered in the paint, Miller and Wade had a tough time on the perimeter, Billups and Prince were both excellent defenders, Hamilton was an tireless fighter, and with Anthony on the team, every offensive play felt like a battle.

The Suns are an offensively focused team.

D'Antoni always says that offense is the best form of defense, but he learned his lesson when he faced the Heat.

Kidd is considered the best point guard in the league because his playmaking ability is unmatched by Parker. His skill in setting up play always creates scoring opportunities for his teammates. If you leave Kidd completely open, he also has a decent three-point shot.

Wei Guo faced off against Kidd when he played for the 76ers.

Brown followed Wei Guo's advice and left Kidd open to prevent other players from receiving the ball. This was equivalent to separating the engine from the machine. No matter how fast the engine runs, the machine cannot operate without being connected to it.

This tactic wouldn't work on the Heat.

Back then, apart from Kidd, the other players on the Nets were all of average ability. Kidd was the backbone of the team. The Heat were different. O'Neal was a superstar, Miller was a promising talent, and Wade was also showing signs of becoming a superstar. It could be said that on this team, Kidd could only be considered the third option.

Kidd isn't worried about being targeted by the Suns at all; his teammates can provide him with the greatest support.

......

The first quarter has ended.

23:31!!

The Suns are down by 8 points.

The main reason for the deficit was the last two minutes of the first quarter when Damon Jones and Eddie Jones came off the bench.

The defense against Miller and Wade had already kept Joe Johnson and Richardson busy. After Damon and Eddie came on, the two relaxed a bit, allowing Damon and Eddie to hit three consecutive three-pointers. Although both are role players, they are both good shooters. Eddie Jones is a veteran who can average more than 20 points per game in his prime. Damon Jones has a three-point shooting percentage of 43% this season.

D'Antoni watched the game, completely at a loss.

Gentry returned to the head coach position starting from the Western Conference Finals. Some of his tactical arrangements surprised D'Antoni. Being able to work alongside Wei Guo for three years... Gentry must have some skills. The decentralization he gave him during the regular season was probably just to develop himself.

For example, right now...

D'Antoni was at a loss, while Gentry remained calm, muttering to himself as if he had come up with a very good tactic.

"If we let the role players all perform, we'll be in big trouble."

Gentry muttered to himself, then turned to the players sitting on the bench, "I told you all to watch more Pistons game videos, have you all watched them?"

"I saw it!"

The player answered firmly.

Gentry said, "There's nothing wrong with our inside game, but our perimeter defense is still not strong enough. We made a few unacceptable mistakes by leaving our men open... We need to use our physicality against older players like Eddie and Miller."

Eddie Jones entered the league only two years earlier than Nash.

In Gentry's mouth, it became "old arms and legs," and I wonder what Eddie Jones would think if he heard that.

......

The second quarter began with Wei Guo remaining on the court.

The opponent is too strong...

Gentry didn't have a good solution either; the only winning move he could think of was to pass the ball to Wei Ge.

The Heat are on offense.

Eddie had the ball at the three-point line, Mourning set a screen, Eddie easily shook off Barbosa, and pulled up for a jump shot.

Van Gundy was in a panic. Who told Mourning to set the screen? This damn tactic wasn't his idea... Mourning's screen allowed Eddie to shake off Barbosa, but near the free-throw line, he would be facing Wei Guo. Although Wei Guo was a meter away when Eddie shot, Van Gundy had no doubt that Wei Guo would give Eddie a good beating.

As expected...

*Smack!!!*

Wei Guo blocked Eddie's shot.

Barbosa grabbed the ball and launched a fast break, which the Heat players couldn't catch up with.

25:31!!

Barbosa's fast break layup helped the Suns close the gap to two points.

Van Gundy shouted, "Mourning, go inside and box out. Your only job is to hold off Wei Guo."

Mourning was indeed careless. He had always been teammates with Wei Guo, and the Heat had only played the Suns twice in the regular season. Both times, Wei Guo played small forward, so Mourning rarely had the opportunity to match up against Wei Guo. That last play... he just wanted to set a screen for Eddie and create a shooting opportunity for him.

But they forgot that the State of Wei was an enemy, not a friend.

Eddie has a lot of blame for this. He was so careless in taking the shot when Wei Guo was so close to him. Wasn't he just asking for a block?

The Heat are on offense.

Mourning kept his mission in mind and got entangled with Wei Guo, creating a four-on-four situation on the court.

Eddie's gotten smarter...

Wei Guo was on the left. He dribbled the ball to the right and passed it to Haslem.

Haslem went one-on-one against Lampe and made a layup... Wei Guo squeezed past Mourning and came to help defend. Haslem panicked and gave up the layup, barely managing to throw the ball back to Eddie. Eddie immediately passed the ball to the three-point line.

Damon Jones receives the ball and shoots a three-pointer.

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

25:34!!

The Suns are down by 9 points.

Shaquille O'Neal sat on the bench, taking up two seats, and made a face at Damon, saying, "Damon, I love you~~~"

Damon Jones made all three of his three-point attempts!

Miller was slapped in the face after provoking Wei Guo in the first quarter. Wei Guo made three consecutive three-pointers. As for Miller... after being called out by Wei Guo, he took three more shots after the first three-pointer. Two of them hit the rim, and one was blocked by Wei Guo. The Suns once led by 10 points, and only managed to catch up thanks to the performance of O'Neal and Wade.

Then...

Damon Jones and Eddie Jones hit consecutive three-pointers, instantly widening the score gap.

This pleased Van Gundy. With a deep bench, the team's tactics become more flexible. Van Gundy once said that if the Heat's bench could form a lineup, they could make the playoffs.

......

Five minutes into the second quarter, Nash and the rest of the team returned to the court.

The defense hasn't improved much...

Kidd is the team's brain; with him on the team, the Heat's ball movement is very fast. Apart from Wei Guo, every player on the Suns has been called out.

The machine's load capacity is what it is. When one engine can run the machine, adding another engine will not make the machine run twice as fast. The Suns are a case in point... The team has two passing masters, Wei Guo and Nash. It's like the machine has two engines, but only one needs to work.

so...

Wei Guo's playmaking ability was basically ignored. When the ball got to him, it was either because he had a scoring opportunity or because the team's offense was not working. What Wei Guo had to do was not pass the ball, but try to get the ball into the basket.