Chapter 2231 - 37: With Each New Emperor Comes New Ministers (Part 3)

Chapter 2231: Chapter 37: With Each New Emperor Comes New Ministers (Part 3)

The Phoenix Suns’ championship aspirations in the 2007 season reached their peak after several seasons of striving and enduring.

They believe they are ready. Compared to their slightly immature team in 2005, and after Stoudemire’s major injury and Diaw’s breakout in 2006, the Suns have a more solid foundation.

Glory and Gan Guoyang are their biggest obstacles to the O’Brien Trophy.

Charles Barkley has come to the scene as a Suns legend to do commentary.

"I once beat Ah Gan in 1993! I believe Nash and Stoudemire can do it again! 1993, damn, it’s already been 14 years. Ah Gan is still playing in the West Finals."

"I think the Suns have a definite advantage. Although they played seven games in the semifinals against the Trail Blazers, Glory is taking it easy, but the Suns’ firepower is hard for Glory to cope with. Their regular-season performance has proved this point, Glory can’t keep up with the Phoenix people’s pace."

Nowadays, Barkley is quite portly, sitting there like a mountain.

He customarily wears the Championship Ring he got in 2000.

For every crucial playoff commentary, Barkley will wear it.

On one hand, it’s his key to dominating Kenny Smith, but on the other, it represents his outward mocking of Ah Gan while secretly siding with his old buddies.

However, tonight Barkley is not wrong, the Suns do indeed have the advantage.

The game began with the Suns’ offensive as fierce as fire, spreading across the American Airlines Center.

Starting in the 2004 season, the Suns changed the large center court LOGO and added the Phoenix (phoenix bird) element.

The bird is reborn in fire, symbolizing the Suns’ relentless rise and their perpetual offensive-focused team philosophy.

Furthermore, whenever star players are traded to the Suns from other teams, they always seem to be reborn. Paul Westphal, Charles Barkley, Steve Nash, Grant Hill are cases in point, though they are all just a step away from the championship, just a step.

The Glory team, according to pre-game plans, tried to use defense and a slow pace to suppress the Suns in the opening.

The first quarter saw both sides evenly matched, with Glory leveraging their tenacious defense to temporarily take the lead.

But starting from the second quarter, the Suns gradually found their long-range touch, led by Nash, using fast threes and breakthrough layups to score.

In the starting lineup, the Suns heavily used Kurt Thomas to entangle Gan Guoyang, while Stoudemire and Hill double-teamed Yao Ming, leaving Gerald Wallace.

Glory somewhat over-rested, and by halftime, their lead of 4 points turned into a deficit of 12 points in a blink.

In the third quarter, Glory’s offense and defense felt completely off, failing to organize an effective counterattack.

Instead, Yao Ming and Allen Iverson seemed disconnected from the game on the court.

One was too tall and slow, the other too short and slim, both repeatedly targeted by the Suns’ mismatched offense.

Porter kept adjusting, but the Suns responded well, just like in regular season.

Nash avoided Ah Gan, utilizing mismatched advantages, relentlessly attacking Yao Ming, Allen Iverson.

Then, he used speed to create chaos in Glory’s defensive formation.

Yao Ming was slow in returning defense, while Allen Iverson couldn’t defend the paint.

Although Stoudemire and Thomas struggled to handle Ah Gan, still as said, Ah Gan finds it hard to score 60 points in playoffs.

He must follow the game rules, collaborate with everyone, according to plans and tactics.

In the third quarter, Glory’s fierce counterattacks met the Suns’ equally fierce firepower, both sides scored 31:35, with the Suns still winning by 4 points.

Adding to Glory’s overall poor three-point shooting, repeatedly missing outside, they ultimately lost on the road 92:110, an 18-point deficit and were crushed by the Suns.

Trailing 0:1 in the West Finals series, Gan Guoyang scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, seeming insignificant.

"We should score more in the next game." In the post-game press conference, the defeated Gan Guoyang said casually.

"How much more?" the reporter asked.

"Just more than the Suns," he replied.

Gan Guoyang’s remark caused a burst of laughter, a cliché.

But everyone knows, Ah Gan never says empty words.