Chapter 91 Playoffs Begin

After the end of the regular season, the Suns will have four days off, and four days later, they will face their first opponent in the playoffs, the Utah Jazz.

The Sun has been actively training these days. The good record of the regular season has made them look forward to more. Everyone believes that their team will go further in the playoffs until... the finals and even the championship.

Although everyone thinks that the Suns are the favorite to win the championship this year, Gentry told the players of the Suns to calm down. Their goal is to win the championship, but what they have to do now is to eliminate the first opponent.

NBA's official publicity about the playoffs has been fully launched, and the eyes of basketball fans all over the world have gathered here. On the first day of the playoffs, there are five games to be played, but not the Suns and Jazz. Their game is on the second day.

After five games, the strength gap in the East was more obvious. The Bulls and Magic each defeated their opponents and won, while the West showed a smaller gap. The Lakers won the Nuggets, the Clippers lost to the Thunder, and the Spurs won the Mavericks, but also narrowly won by 2 points.

The situation in the east is not what the Suns need to pay attention to for for the time being. Gentry told the players not to take it lightly. He shouted in the locker room, "Don't underestimate any opponent. This is the playoffs, a completely different stage from the regular season. I need each of you to go all out and don't give it to the opponent. What a chance, and then, take this victory!"

"Victory!" All the Suns shouted and roared in the locker room. With Nash's hand wave, 12 figures ran out of the locker room. The smoke-filled 10-11 season playoffs began, and Zhao Yue will also usher in his first playoff journey of his life.

"Welcome to the first round of the 10-11 NBA playoffs. The Phoenix Suns vs. Utah Jazz. I'm Mike Brin." Mike Brin, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson sat on the sidelines. In the playoffs, they did not sit in the live broadcast room as usual.

"From the perspective of strength, this is a group of disparity, but anything may happen on the basketball court..." The loud noise of the American Airlines Center Stadium made Mike Brin have to raise his voice louder and louder, otherwise he couldn't even hear what he was talking about. Despite the headset, it didn't completely block the sun ball. Fanatic shouts.

"The sun will win!" We are the best team in the league, Sun!" Steve!" Cameron!" King Zhao!" The fans of the Suns showed their support for the team. Since the Suns players appeared, no, even when they did not play, cheered continuously.

After the opening ceremony, the starters of the two teams stood near the middle circle, and the Suns continued the starting lineup of the regular season. On the Jazz side, the center is Al Jefferson, power forward Paul Millsap, small forward Andre Kirillenko, shooting guard Laga Bell, and point guard Deron Williams.

The Jazz lineup is very talented, and Gordon Haywood on the bench gave them enough bench substitutes. Although they only ranked eighth in the regular season, their strength is not as weak as expected, which Gentry repeatedly stressed before the game.

Jump ball, Zhao Yue has never lost so far. Carter's bounce + Kemp's explosive power makes his bounce almost unmatched in the league. Even James, Howard and others have to stand aside.

After taking the ball, Nash began to hit the inside line. Zhao Yue came forward to block and dismantle it. Nash dumped the defender and hit the ball.

Jazz counterattacked, and Delong also began to attack the inside line after taking the ball. The Suns' defense this season is not generally strong, because they have the best defensive player in the league. No matter what kind of player you are, if you dare to rush to the inside line of the Suns, you will inevitably be strictly defended by Zhao Yue. In the playoffs, Gentry emphasized the importance of defense, so as soon as Delong entered the inside line, Carter blocked it, and Zhao Yue's footsteps also moved.

Delong didn't seem to think that the Sun' bag was so resolute in the first quarter. The dribble almost made this mistake and barely sent the ball to Kirillenko's hand, but his pass speed was too slow. When Kirillenko shot, Anthony had returned in time. The ball hit the rebound, and Zhao Yue took the ball down.

The Suns also chose to break through. The person who broke through was still Nash, but he did not break too deep and almost passed the ball out at the free throw line. Anthony received a pass and faced Kirilenko, who was half a step away from him, "Whisper!" The ball is hollow into the net.

It was Deron again. After taking the ball, he tried to shot himself at the middle distance, but the ball also failed to hit. Delong's hand was soft, and Anthony's hand was not soft. He easily made a jump shot in Kirienko's single after taking the ball from the middle distance.

"The sun made enough preparations. They gave the young Jazz a blow and told the young men that this is the playoffs." Looking at the situation on the court, Mike Brin couldn't help sighing.

2:13, this is the score of the two teams three and a half minutes after the opening. The Jazz has called a timeout, but it has not stopped the gap from widen.

The Suns were completely dominant on the scene, but the Suns players refused to relax at all and continued to chase and fight fiercely.

Zhao Yue took a look at the score, 2110, and the Sun still had an advantage of 11 points. He couldn't help shaking his head at Jefferson beside him and said, "Jazz? The referee didn't seem to help you today. It really stinks.

Jeffson stared at Zhao Yue fiercely. Originally depressed, he was ridiculed by Zhao Yue. Of course, he was not in a good mood. Once again, he asked for the ball, and he took the ball in the three-second zone to prepare for a single hit Zhao Yue.

"Good, come on, man, I appreciate your courage." When Zhao Yue saw that Jefferson was ready to attack by himself, he smiled happily and stared at Jefferson closely, as if to see through the other party completely.

It's good to have courage, but courage alone is not enough. Zhao Yue quickly told Jefferson this with his actions. Jefferson's offensive ability is indeed good. It's like playing against the average rookie to score points, but what he met was not an ordinary rookie, but the best defensive player in the league.

Jefferson tried to suddenly start to find a breakthrough space, but his intention was recognized by Zhao Yue, which made him hit Zhao Yue, and Zhao Yue did not move.

Jefferson couldn't open Zhao Yue when he saw the top. He changed his strategy, straightened his waist slightly, turned forward to retreat, quickly broke away from Zhao Yue's physical contact, and then jumped and shot.

"Do you want to avoid me? No way!" Zhao Yue roared and jumped up high and touched the ball in Jefferson's hand.

Although the ball was not covered in Jefferson's hand, Jefferson's shot was affected. The ball hit the basket and popped out. Channing Fry took the rebound and handed it over to Nash.

Anthony kept running at half-time, driving the Jazz's defense, which was what Gentry wanted to see. The Jazz's defense was torn bigger and bigger by Anthony, and Nash and Zhao Yue's air relay followed.

"yes! Air relay! Wonderful cooperation between King Zhao and Steve! He doesn't look like a rookie at all, a player in the playoffs for the first time. An effective defense and a beautiful air relay dunk, the difference has increased to 13 points.

With a difference of 13 points, Gentry simply took advantage of the suspension to replace the two main players, Nash and Carter. At the end of the first quarter, 20:30, the Sun still has an advantage of 10 points.

In order to catch up with the Jazz, they did not let their main players rest in the second quarter, but fought with the Suns' substitutes. This move really worked. The Jazz scored 6 points in a row, and the difference narrowed to only 4 points.

As the most important member of the substitute, Dragic stood up at this time. As the best sixth man in the league, he averaged 18.0 points per game. Dragic's scoring ability should not be underestimated, and he began to take the initiative to create opportunities for himself.

At the same time, the experienced Grant Hill also played well. The two continued to work together to stabilize the situation on the court and completely ignited the ** of the Suns fans. The next game in the second quarter turned into a unilateral massacre of the Suns.

"Grant Hill hit the middle shot!"

"Golan Dragic, run to catch the ball, three points, hollow hit."

"Steve Nash, the same position as Golan, three points, and then."

"Cameron Anthony, turn around and jump the ball!"

"King Zhao cast three points? Oh, almost, Vance Carter, rush to the frontcourt rebound, yes, make up for the bottle!"

At the end of the first half, the Suns led by 58:38 and reached 20 points. Looking at the low morale of the Jazz team, everyone knew that the game was basically over.

In the second half, the Jazz once organized a wave of counterattacks, but they were soon blocked by the Suns. Until the end of the game, the Jazz did not find a chance to turn over.

87:110, the Jazz lost the first game at the American Airlines Center Stadium by 23 points, and the big score of the two teams was rewritten as 1:0, with the Suns leading.