Chapter 67 Zheng is my boss
Time quickly came to the evening of November 11. The America West Arena was full of spectators tonight. Most of them spontaneously wore Suns jerseys. They came to cheer for the home team.

Seeing the Suns transform from a bottom-ranked team into a strong playoff team in the new season, the first ones to feel happy are naturally the local fans.

No one likes to spend money to come to the stadium to watch the team they support get beaten up. We are not NTRs and we don’t have this habit.

They would rather witness victory after victory at home.

When the team's record is good, especially when the games are extremely entertaining, fans are willing to spend money on these games, even if it is their own pocket money that they have saved for a long time.

After learning that the Dallas Mavericks were the visiting team tonight, fans rushed to buy tickets, all wanting to support Nash in defeating his old team.

After all, in the story told by the media, when Nash was kicked out of the Mavericks, he shouted to Cuban, "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't bully the young and poor," and he was determined to prove himself!
Tonight is a good time for him to take revenge!
Of course, although Cuban was unwilling to give the other party a big contract, there was no falling out between the two sides. After all, even if the deal failed, there is still friendship.

There's no need to make it so ugly!
It’s just that the media just likes to create this kind of sensational stuff. Only by adding a lot of grudges and hatreds to a basketball game will the fans pay more attention.

Who cares whether it is true or not!
As long as the popularity is high, something fake can become real!
When the players were warming up before the game, Nash took the initiative to walk towards the Mavericks in his training clothes. He came to say hello to the old players.

After all, he has been with the Mavericks for several years and has a good relationship with the players here.

"Hey Zheng! Nice to see you again! You've gotten a lot stronger. I think your biceps are bigger than my head! Haha!"

The first person Nash looked for was Zheng Yang. After all, he had the best personal relationship with Zheng Yang in the Mavericks.

The two hadn't seen each other for a long time, and they were very happy to see each other through the competition this time.

"How's it going Steve? Are you getting used to being in Phoenix?"

“Yeah, I’m doing pretty well here.

Your recent performance is really scary. It seems that you can score 30 or 40 points in every game. Did you not rest for a single day during the offseason? "

"How is that possible? I did take a few days off."

"You've only had a few days off, and you're such a freak."

After the two chatted for a while, Nash went to say hello to others, and everyone exchanged a few words with him.

"Hey Zheng, we're all going to give it our all today, and I want to see for myself how much progress you've made."

Before going back to warm up, Nash found Zheng Yang again and said with a smile.

The latter also smiled and nodded.

"Then remember not to cry if you lose!"

"Let's talk about it after you win! By the way, whoever loses will treat us to a midnight snack tonight."

"OK, no problem."

……

After the players finished warming up, the game began immediately.

CCTV also broadcast this game today, but the only host today was Mr. Yu Jia. For a moment, the only thing left was his clear and melodious broadcasting voice, which made people a little uncomfortable.

"Good morning, dear fans!
Today's game is between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns away.

The Suns' strength has skyrocketed since signing Steve Nash during the offseason, and they are currently 5-0.

After the Mavericks broke up during the offseason, they are still performing well this season, with a current record of 4 wins and 1 loss.

I believe that these two teams will bring a very exciting game to the fans today.

The starting players of both teams have already come on the court and the game will start soon."

The camera returns to the court, where Dampier is jumping the ball with Stoudemire.

Stoudemire is not much shorter than his opponent, and with his excellent jumping ability, he helped the team get the first offensive opportunity of the day.

"The ball came to Nash, let's see how they choose to play this round...

Stoudemire sets a pick-and-roll for Nash...

Nash passed the ball to Stoudemire...

Stoudemire rushed into the paint...

He dunked over Dampier!"

When seeing Stoudemire dunk over Dampier with overwhelming force, Yu Jia's usually calm tone finally fluctuated. After all, the visual effect of that ball just now was just too brutal!

After receiving the pass from Nash, Stoudemire took a step and jumped. Although Dampier tried his best to defend, Stoudemire's strong explosive power still allowed him to successfully dunk the ball.

This dunk instantly ignited the enthusiasm of the fans. As soon as everyone sat down, they immediately stood up and cheered.

When the Suns often have all kinds of great dunks in the game, how can you resist not coming to the scene to witness it in person?

After being dunked on, Dampier looked away awkwardly, not daring to meet the gaze of his teammates.

Damn, why do everyone like to dunk on me these days? I’m a human being, not your toy!

A dunk is also two points, a layup is also two points, what’s the difference?
Can't you just choose a layup?
Can you respect me a little?

In the first round of the game, the Suns played their classic pick-and-roll tactics.

Then it was the Mavericks' turn to attack. After Jason Terry controlled the ball across half court, he passed it to Zheng Yang, who also signaled everyone to start playing one-on-one.

The player defending him is One-on-One Joe, a player who is also strong on offense but weak on defense.

Zheng Yang accelerated under the crotch and passed the opponent in one step. After the hand-check was cancelled, those players who were not good at defense were even less able to defend their opponents.

At this moment, the Suns' center door was wide open and Zheng Yang rushed directly into the inside.

Stoudemire stared at him intently. Before the game, the team's head coach D'Antoni also reminded them that Zheng's attack frequency is very high this season and his hit rate is also very high, so they must protect the rim as much as possible.

But after Zheng Yang rushed into the inside, he did not choose to make a quick stop and shot or a layup.

Just like when he dunked over Dampier on the first day of training camp, the environment for his jump was now very good and no one could stop him.

Therefore, after Zheng Yang rushed in front of Xiao Si, he grabbed the ball with both hands, then took a step and jumped. His excellent jumping speed allowed him to jump to the highest point in an instant.

Stoudemire's defense is actually very average, so even though he has the height advantage and explosive physical talent, he still failed to block Zheng Yang's ball.

It happened in a flash. After jumping to the highest point, Zheng Yang grabbed the ball with his right hand and slammed it into the basket.

The sound of "bang" shocked everyone again!

After Stoudemire dunked over Dampier, Zheng Yang also dunked over Stoudemire, and from the visual effect, Zheng Yang's dunk was more brutal. His movements were more flexible and his jump height was much higher than Stoudemire's.

Zheng Yang is standing up for his younger brother...

This thought was the first thing that popped into everyone's mind when they saw Zheng Yang dunk over Stoudemire.

Dampier, who was preparing to retreat, felt the same way. For a moment, his heart was filled with emotion.

Although Zheng doesn't usually say it, he still cares about me in his heart. When he sees me being bullied by others, he immediately helps me get back on my feet.

How come he is so nice...

Woohoo, Zheng is my boss, I will follow him from now on!
Zheng Yang, whose brain was completely unable to keep up with other people's train of thought, had no idea that Danpier had already added so many plots in his mind.

He saw Nash passing the ball to Shawn Marion who had just run across half court, and that big fool Dampier was still looking at him.

He immediately shouted, "Hurry up and get back on defense, Evans!"

Hearing Zheng Yang's words, Dan Pi was immediately excited.

Zheng needs my help and he treats me sincerely, how can I let him down?
The Suns, the second-best center in the Western Conference is about to show his power! Ahhhh…

Danpi was immediately energized and rushed back to defend. Although he did not catch up with the opponent, he was very active in both offense and defense in the following rounds.

Zheng Yang had no idea that this was caused by him. He thought that Dampier was dunked on and wanted to get back at someone.

If he can fight so actively after being separated once, he should be separated more often in the future!
The two teams played very fiercely in the first quarter, but there was a feeling that they were playing against each other because neither of them could defend the other.

Like the pick-and-roll between Stoudemire and Nash, although Zheng Yang and Dachou both have good one-on-one defense capabilities, Stoudemire's pick-and-roll always makes them one step slower than Nash.

If you are slow at this step, all the following steps will be slow!

Facing Zheng Yang and Nowitzki's successive one-on-ones, the Suns simply couldn't withstand it.

They even have a bit of a bad mentality. Since they can't defend anyway, they might as well not defend. I'll compete with you in offense!
I don't believe it. I can't beat you even though I attack once every seven seconds.

In this way, the final score of the two teams in the first quarter was fixed at 33:35, and the Mavericks temporarily fell behind by 2 points. This score, which was commonplace in the small ball era, is very rare in this era.

This shows how much energy the two teams spent on offense in the first quarter.

During the break, except for Zheng Yang and Da Chou, who were in better physical condition, everyone else was gasping for breath.

Playing against the Suns is so tiring. They keep fast breaks every day without giving us a break.

But you can't just ignore it, because in a moment of distraction the opponent will rush into your restricted area and make an empty-handed shot.

Old Nelson had no choice but to give several main players more rest time in the next game to recover their strength.

"Remember, we have to slow down the tempo as much as possible. Don't compete with the opponent in fast breaks. We have to drag the opponent into the quagmire of positional warfare."

Old Nelson once again emphasized that with Nash around, there would be no good results in competing with the Suns in fast breaks.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Nash was still in his rest time, while Zheng Yang continued to play. Playing 45 minutes a game was his normal routine.

Without Nash, the Suns are like a tiger with its teeth pulled out, with only its residual power left.

Zheng Yang started his own scoring mode, helping the team take advantage of this opportunity to widen the score advantage.

Zheng Yang has two playing styles this season. When leading the bench lineup, he plays the role of a core player with the ball, using his personal abilities to play one-on-one or attract double-teaming and then pass the ball to the open player.

When leading the starting lineup, he acts as the team's finisher and does not occupy the ball too much.

He can flexibly switch between two seemingly very different offensive states, which shows how terrifying his current strength is.

In the first few minutes of the second quarter, Zheng Yang had his way with scoring. He could shoot three-pointers when he wanted and attack the basket when he wanted, just as he pleased.

The Suns really couldn't guard him.

"Although we don't know the specific training content of Zheng during this offseason, based on the fact that his attack frequency has increased significantly this season, this should be one of his key training items.

As his ability to attack the basket improves, Zheng Yang's scoring methods become more diverse and his explosive scoring ability becomes more terrifying.

Fans who have watched Zheng Yang’s previous games will know that Zheng Yang’s scoring was not a gradual process, but a sudden outbreak in a certain period of time.

For example, in the first four minutes of the second quarter, Zheng Yang made 6 of 4 shots and scored 10 points. With his explosive scoring ability, the Mavericks have now overtaken the score and narrowed the difference to 7 points.

It can be seen that the Suns can no longer sit still and are ready to replace their main players. "

Teacher Yu Jia continued to explain the situation on the field to everyone.

With the return of the main players of both teams, the two teams started their scoring performances again.

Although the Mavericks have tried their best to slow down the pace of the game, many times you can't slow it down just because you want to.

With Nash's broad vision and excellent passing ability, the Suns can initiate an attack and then finish at any time.

How can you possibly suppress them with such a style of play?
Old Nelson, who was sitting on the sidelines, felt a pang of regret as he watched Nash connect the entire team through passing the ball.

If only Nash hadn't left.

As long as Nash can come to this Mavericks team to play point guard, and as long as there are no injuries later, old Nelson dares to guarantee that this season's championship will definitely be theirs.

But no matter how regretful it is, the lost person can never be found!

That beautiful time has finally become a thing of the past!

While old Nelson regretted Nash's departure, Suns head coach D'Antoni was also jealous of Zheng Yang.

In terms of the opponent's physical fitness, scoring ability, and defensive ability...

This is a perfect match for the current Suns!
If they can poach the opponent, the Suns' chances of winning the championship this year will greatly increase!
But this kind of thing can only be thought of in dreams. Anyone can see that Zheng is a gold mine. The deeper you dig, the more valuable he will be discovered.

Unless they have no other choice, no one would be so stupid as to trade him away.

The Suns' offense is indeed fierce, especially their love for shooting three-pointers. Once they get warmed up, they can make a few three-pointers and no one can withstand it.

Originally, the Mavericks were leading before the main players came on the court, but in the last minute of the second quarter, Nash and singles player Joe each made a three-pointer, immediately tying the score.

61: 61!

The two teams entered the half-time break!

(End of this chapter)