Chapter 188: The Birth of the Universal Suns

At 7 PM, the game was about to begin.

This was the first game between the Suns and the Warriors after their major trade.

As the players entered the court, Bynum, Dragic, Dudley, and Morris received applause from the Suns fans.

Especially when Dudley entered...

"Dudley!"

"Dudley!"

"Dudley!"

The fans cheered and shouted Dudley's name. He was one of the key players in the Suns' championship run last year.

"Thank you..." Dudley was moved by the fans' support. He bowed to the crowd, tears welling up in his eyes. "It's great to have you all here!"

...

In the Chinese live broadcast room.

Yu Jia, "The Warriors, who are on a three-game winning streak, are facing the Suns. Can they extend their streak?"

Coach Zhang, "To be honest, it's normal for the Warriors to lose to the Suns. If the Suns lose to the Warriors, then Coach Kidd will be held accountable."

Yu Jia, "So, if the Suns lose to the Warriors, it would mean that Sarver made a terrible trade?"

Coach Zhang, "You could say that."

Yu Jia, "Coach Zhang, how many points do you think Wade Dong will score tonight?"

Coach Zhang, "Relying solely on Wade Dong won't be enough. But I think he can easily score 50 points in this game."

Yu Jia, "Haha... After all, he is the scoring champion."

...

The players from both teams stood on the court, ready for the jump ball.

The starting lineups for the game were:

Suns: Wade Dong, Klay, Thompson, Green, Middleton.

Warriors: Bynum, Dragic, Dudley, Randle, Barnes.

The Suns had given the Warriors three of their starters. Dudley stood next to Wade Dong, hands on his knees, slightly bent over, looking ahead. "East Brother, I've been missing you a lot lately."

"Have you dreamed about me?" Wade Dong joked.

"Yes!" Dudley nodded firmly. "It was a memorable dream."

"Get out of here..." Wade Dong laughed and bumped Dudley with his shoulder.

"Beep!!!"

The referee blew the whistle, and Middleton and Bynum went for the jump ball.

Bynum tipped the ball to Dragic, who dribbled it to the frontcourt.

Coach Kidd shook his head. In the next game, he would have Wade Dong jump for the ball. Wade Dong's vertical leap was faster, and otherwise, the "Death Lineup" might not win a single jump ball.

The Suns' "Death Lineup" immediately sparked discussion among fans watching on TV. The lineup's weakness was obvious—lack of height! However, its strength was also clear—strong three-point shooting.

Dragic shook off Klay, but Middleton was there to help on defense.

The essence of the "Death Lineup" lay in its help defense and screens. Although they had only done a simple tactical drill before the game, the Suns players were all very smart.

Middleton provided help defense, and Dragic passed the ball to Bynum.

Bynum tried to use his height advantage to shoot, but Green and Wade Dong quickly closed in on him. Both were familiar with Bynum's game, and Wade Dong intercepted the ball before Bynum could shoot.

All the Suns players rushed to the frontcourt.

What followed was a replay of their training session. Green set a screen for Klay, and Wade Dong drove past Barnes' defense, passing the ball to Klay.

"Swish!!!"

Klay launched a three-pointer, and the ball went straight through the net.

3:0!!!

It seemed like everyone was finding their rhythm.

On the Warriors' next possession, Dudley scored with a small hook shot after driving to the basket.

3:2!!!

When the Suns inbounded the ball, Klay and Thompson quickly ran to the frontcourt, with Wade Dong still handling the ball.

In this lineup, Wade Dong was the initiator of the offense. Only when Klay and the others didn't have good scoring opportunities would Wade Dong become the finisher.

The transition between offense and defense was very fast!

Thompson hit another three-pointer from the perimeter.

After struggling through three games, the Suns' offense finally started to flow smoothly, giving the fans a visually pleasing experience.

This lineup, consisting of smaller players, moved faster and could effectively limit the opponent's offense through help defense.

Just five minutes into the first quarter, the Warriors called a timeout because they were already down by double digits.

The Warriors' coach said, "Bynum, our height advantage is key. You need to reduce your outside shots and focus on attacking the paint."

"Got it!" Bynum nodded solemnly.

"Expand your defensive range. Don't let Wade Dong, Klay, and Thompson get open three-point shots," the Warriors' coach added.

Offense wasn't the main issue; defense was the hardest part. The Suns' "Death Lineup" had too much offensive firepower, especially with Wade Dong, Klay, and Thompson's three-point shooting, which was almost impossible to defend against.

After the timeout, the Suns substituted Middleton and Thompson with Gortat and Tucker.

Coach Kidd made this adjustment quickly. It seemed he had realized that the "Death Lineup" could dominate the game but couldn't keep all five players on the court the whole time.

As soon as Tucker and Gortat entered the game, along with Green, they formed a formidable defensive wall in the paint. The Warriors' coach's offensive strategy was immediately nullified.

"G~"

"G~"

"G~"

The Warriors' attempts to attack the paint were all blocked.

On the Suns' side, Wade Dong and Klay continued to drive to the basket, scoring a combined 7 points and extending the lead to almost 20 points.

The Warriors' coach was jumping with frustration!

This Suns team was different from the one in the previous three games... He had watched the recordings of those games, and the Suns' offense and defense were nowhere near as smooth and solid as they were now.

Had Coach Kidd suddenly figured it out?

...

With three minutes left in the first quarter, Nash and McGrady replaced Wade Dong and Klay, and Frye replaced Green.

This meant the Suns had Nash, McGrady, Tucker, Gortat, and Frye on the court—a formidable bench lineup that was still incredibly strong.

The Suns had lost two games in a row, and the one they won was a struggle.

Coach Kidd remained calm because he wanted the players to understand the importance of sacrifice for the team's victory.

It was because of those three games that the selfless Nash, Gortat, and Tucker agreed to come off the bench.