The Rockets led the double digits in the first quarter and maintained the lead at the end of the first half, but were overtaken in the third quarter, and the Suns' offensive wave after wave, eventually completely submerged the Rockets in the fourth quarter.

Three players in the Suns scored 20 points in this game, and Steve Nash scored 25 points and 10 assists for the Suns, 15 of which were scored in the second half. Jason Richardson scored 26 points and Amare Stoudemire scored 24 points and 15 rebounds.

The Rockets collapsed in the final quarter. They failed to make a goal in the middle of the fourth quarter for 5 minutes and could only score on free throws. With 3 minutes left in the game, the Rockets finally made a goal by Yao Ming, but then Nash's cold shot widened the score difference to 10 points, and the Rockets' loss was basically a foregone conclusion.

The Houstonians have since failed to narrow the gap to less than 10 points and are unable to make the day ahead. Their wish to return to the Western Conference Finals was eventually shattered by the Suns.

The Clippers' Western Conference semi-finals opponent was finally released. The Phoenix Suns defeated the Rockets after a tiebreak battle and advanced. Their Western Conference Finals opponent will be the Los Angeles Clippers, who have never lost the game this year's playoffs.

In fact, the Suns' current lineup has given fans a lot of surprises, because from the beginning of the season to now, few people are willing to list the Suns as the favorite to win the championship. The Suns were unable to send "Shark" O'Neal away through trades in the first half of the season, and head coach Gentry still clarified their idea of ​​starting to rebuild. This season, their realistic goals have long been set on the championship.

For the senior executives of the Suns, there are many issues that need to be considered at the moment. Nash has not renewed his contract with the Suns. The chance of leaving next season is very high. That is to say, after the end of this season, the Suns will completely lose their team-building core. In this case, does the Suns need to renew their contract with Sir Si at a high salary? Or will they go to the free market to find other players with more affordable prices? But Stodmeier also has a strong desire to leave. Even if the Suns want to renew their contract, Stodmeier may not stay in the end, so maybe after this season, the fantasy combination that has played for the Suns for 6 seasons will go their separate ways.

In recent seasons, the Suns' personnel structure has undergone great changes. When D'Antoni made the Suns the King of Running and Bombing, the Suns injected fresh blood into the entire NBA. But in D'Antoni's system, this crazy offensive tactic has a fatal weakness, that is, defense.

Looking at the championships in previous championships, no team can win the championship by offense alone. Crazy offense may bring exciting games with ups and downs, but only defense is the real magic weapon to ensure victory. So after several stops to the Western Conference Finals and semi-finals, the senior leaders of the Suns began to transform the team. They traded O'Neal and got Richardson from the Bobcats. However, O'Neal was unable to integrate into the entire Suns system as many people expected. In the end, the Suns and head coach D'Antoni also parted ways, trying to get the team to start from defense.

However, D'Antoni's departure did not change the Suns. Their defense failed to undergo substantial changes, and the running and bombing style that they were good at before completely disrupted the rhythm because of O'Neal's joining. The Suns began to become a contradictory body. They were even squeezed out of the playoff goal last season. The inappropriate style of play made fans disappointed, and even Nash publicly expressed his dissatisfaction.

General Manager Kerr soon saw this sign. He straightened D'Antoni's former subordinate Gentry, and then tried to send O'Neal away through a trade. Even if he failed in the end, the Suns picked up the run and kick back that year under Gentry, which made the Suns improve this season and finally reached the Western Conference Finals.

Of course, no one thinks that the Suns can eliminate the defending champion Clippers in the Western Conference Finals. In the regular season of this season, the Clippers' record against the Suns is 4 wins and 0 losses. The natural rebelliousness of the Phoenixes will not give them the ability to challenge the level higher. Their gun-killing style not only cannot kill the Clippers, but may exhaust themselves first.

General Manager Cole now needs to think carefully about how the Suns will develop in the future to truly have hope to move to the championship stage. If we follow the current route, should the Suns add some players with specialties in defense? Instead of turning their defense line into an hourglass like now.

The media in Phoenix City are also pessimistic about the Western Conference Finals. The Clippers' offense and defense speed is no less than the peak Suns a few years ago. Even the center Ji Guoqiu has the athletic ability of the peak Xiao Si. The younger brother Ji Guohun's speed and flexibility are better than the older brother. How can the Suns run? Not to mention that the Clippers' defense and offense are the first in the league. The Suns cannot win in the field they are best at, so their most realistic goal now should be to avoid being swept by the Clippers.

Charles Barkley analyzed the four requirements of the Suns to defeat the Clippers, which were very strict.

First, Nash needs to play against the Rockets series, and he needs to score 30+ points to make up for his shortcomings on the defensive end. Second, Sir must be able to break out with Ji Guomo, and he must get as many points as the Foxes, or even more. Third, O'Neal has to show at least 70% of his peak strength in his limited 20 minutes of playing time, so that he can form a stalemate with Brother Pandas within these 20 minutes. Fourth, that is, former dunk king Richardson, who also has to perform in the seventh game against the Rockets.

If you count carefully, the Suns must collect the above four requirements to ensure that they defeat the Clippers today. Without any of them, their hopes of defeating the Clippers will not be too great.

Barkley added: "The few requirements I put forward are very harsh, but there is no way. When the Suns' game was 10 or even 20 points in the first half, it still couldn't be reassuring because the team scored quickly but lost points quickly. So they had to perform very well to finally defeat the Clippers."

On May 16, the league announced the schedule for the Western Conference Finals, and the matchup table for the Eastern Conference has been announced long ago.

The Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns game is scheduled to be held on May 17. The Eastern Conference Finals of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic will be held the day before. That is to say, the Clippers game is held at the end again.

On May 17, Los Angeles-class Clippers vs Phoenix Suns - Staples Arena, pm, 21:00.

On May 19, Los Angeles-class Clippers vs Phoenix Suns - Staples Arena, pm, 20:30.

On May 21, Los Angeles-class Clippers vs Phoenix Suns - American Airlines Center Arena.pm, 20:30.

On May 23, Los Angeles-class Clippers vs Phoenix Suns - American Airlines Center Arena, pm, 20:30.

On May 26, the Los Angeles-class Clippers vs Phoenix Suns - Staples Arena, pm, tentatively.

On May 28, Los Angeles-class Clippers vs Phoenix Suns - American Airlines Center Arena, pm. Tentatively.

On May 30, the Los Angeles-class Clippers vs Phoenix Suns - Staples Arena.pm, tentatively set.

After the Western Conference Finals matchup was released, Suns coach Gentry sounded the alarm to the players and talked about the strategic points for the Clippers. He said: "Because their height and athletic advantages in the inside line are too obvious, we must protect the rebounds and grab the rebounds. This will be the key factor affecting the trend of this series."

In fact, there is no shortage of altitude advantage in the Suns. Among the three centers, Robin Lopez is tall enough, but he is destined to have little playing time. The Suns have never liked such blue-collar insiders who have no shooting ability and insufficient fast attack ability.

The Shark O'Neal is also not low in height, but unfortunately his speed and style of play are incompatible with the Suns. In addition to using O'Neal when dealing with Yao Ming, Gentry is likely to allow O'Neal to continue playing for 20 minutes per game against the Clippers.

They also have an inside player Channing Fry, who is the center with the most playing time in the Suns and the inside player Gentry trusts the most besides Sir.

After joining the Suns, Fry completely exploded his ability at the three-point line. In the regular season, he shot 43.9% from three-pointers and ranked fourth in the league in three-pointers. Such stability is difficult for many defenders to achieve. However, this figure is somewhat similar to the Fox brother's first season, and his athletic ability and strength are far inferior to the twin brothers, especially against the 245-pound Panda brother, he is probably exposed to shit.

Gentry always emphasized protecting rebounds before the game, which is not unreasonable. Before the start of the Western Conference Finals, the Suns averaged 41.2 rebounds per game, ranking sixth among 16 playoff teams, which was considered to be a good performance. However, facing the Clippers, who had first average rebounds per game, Gentry's warning was very timely. The Clippers averaged 50.6 rebounds per game, which completely outperformed all teams in the league. The two brothers alone could contribute almost 30 rebounds per game. Don't forget that the Suns are a team that mainly shoots. If they can't protect their rebounds, it would be a dead end.

The Los Angeles Times recorded the average data of the two brothers in eight playoffs before the game in time, and then scared the opponent first.

Ji Guoqiu averaged 22.5 points, 17.6 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 4.5 blocks, 2.3 steals, 4.4 turnovers, with a shooting percentage of 62.8%, a three-point shooting percentage of 50%, and a free throw shooting percentage of 98%.

Ji Guomeng averaged 34.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 3 blocks, 2.5 steals, 3.1 turnovers, 58.2% shooting percentage, 52% three-point shooting percentage, and 94.2% free throw shooting percentage.

Both of them have improved their playoff data a lot compared to last season. Brother Pandas has raised his rebounds and assists to a striking level, while Brother Fox has raised his score to Jordan's level.

Speaking of Jordan, the Los Angeles Times also exposed a report that made fans unable to help but think a lot. Lakers head coach Phil Jackson accepted an interview with a Los Angeles media after the team was eliminated. In the interview, Zen Master said: Brother Panda is currently the best player in the NBA, and he has surpassed the Cavaliers star LeBron James.

As soon as this statement was spoken, it immediately became a hot topic in the past few days. The fans of the two naturally began a verbal battle, but the media focused on the Zen master. His words were too intriguing.

After the end of this season, Phil Jackson's coaching contract has expired, so he is now considered a free agent, and there has been no news of renewing his contract with the Lakers. The media speculated that his relationship with Bus Jr. may end his coaching career with the Lakers, but this does not mean that the entire Zen master's career has ended. Among the 30 teams in the league, there are at least 20 teams who are willing to write a check for the Zen master's annual salary at any time.

"Panda has definitely a chance to reach the same height as Jordan. In the past three years of fighting with the Clippers, I realize that he is getting better and better. He is slowly improving his shooting percentage, and he is still improving his rebounds and assists, increasing the power of low-level offense. This season, when he can shoot the ball from the outside or be in a good position at the low post, almost no one can defend him because he can do too much."

The Zen master even praised Ji Guochou in the interview: "He is too high, his wingspan is no less than Gasol, and at the center position, his speed seems too fast. He has incredible control over the body and has very strong offensive ability in both the outside and the low post, but he is still a very team player. You can see how much his teammates love him."

"If I were asked to choose a team-building core, I would choose Panda without hesitation, even Jordan was on the list of choices."

Phil Jackson's last sentence is really incredible. Many people who react quickly immediately thought of a possibility - Could this guy want to coach the best player in the league again? Don't forget that the Nets' head coach next season has not been confirmed yet. If the Zen master applies for a job, who can compete with him?

Ji Guoqiu was also surprised after seeing the report. He didn't expect Phil Jackson to comment on him like this. And since he said that, it is basically certain that Zen master will no longer coach the Lakers. Phil Jackson's words meant to directly bring Kobe to the third place in the league. It can be seen that he no longer cares about offending the core of the Lakers. There is only one possibility, and he no longer intends to coach the Lakers.

"Damn it, didn't he take me seriously when he said this? It's simply outrageous that he didn't mention me in a word."

Ji Guomeng took the newspaper and searched for a long time, and found that this bastard didn't mention him a word. Wasn't he intentionally ignoring him?

"You stupid, Old Dunleavy won two championships in the Clippers, and he is likely to get the third one soon. His status in the Clippers is as stable as Mount Tai. The Zen master knows that he can't replace Old Dunleavy, and you won't leave the Clippers. Of course he won't show kindness to you?"

"You can't just say nothing. This bastard clearly wants to hug your thighs. Boss, you must not be soft-hearted and just ignore him."

Ji Guochou smiled when he heard this, and said with a mocking expression: "Do you think I am a fool? If such a good coach takes the initiative to deliver it to the door, I will be surprised if you don't want it. You kid aren't you scared?"
Chapter completed!