The Suns have always been firmly in control of the initiative, and Guo Xu is the initiator of each offense, holding the ball himself or attracting the defense to better positioned teammates.

Because the Suns play small-ball tactics, there is a natural misalignment on the inside, and rookie Graham is inexperienced, Guo Xu has reduced his shots, and it is easier for his teammates to score.

"Little General" Johnson was forced to replace Graham at the 5-minute mark, and replaced Marquis Daniels to strengthen the defense, and the Mavericks had to be beaten in the first quarter without substitutions.

Just looking at the body stats and the results of the tryout, the Mavericks' management and coaching staff are full of expectations for Graham because he is too physical and can shoot from medium to long range.

It's a pity that Graham is the archetype when he comes out and he is always disappointed, as was the case in pre-season.

His offensive desire is not strong, he likes to stand still and wait for the opportunity to catch the ball, he does not dare to break through with the ball at all, and he often finds his teammates to pass it out without luck. On the defensive end, he made the coach even more crazy, he couldn't defend people one-on-one, especially the defense without the ball was very bad, and Howard often got rid of it easily with a reverse run.

When defending alone, Graham always wants to use his muscles to stop his opponent and likes to steal, and if Howard doesn't fight with him, he is overwhelmed in the system. He is also prone to being easily moved by a simple change of direction when he marks the rim, and he can easily break into the basket without fouling opponents.

Ball intelligence is also an important talent, and Graham is a simple-minded, well-developed player, similar to the Magic's Swift who is not Taylor. In his previous life, he had a top-level body, and he had no ball to play in 6 seasons.

At this time, the Mavericks management was in pain, because Howard was their favorite, and was cut off by the Suns in 2003.

Howard meant a lot to the Mavericks in his previous life, not just to provide firepower on the offensive end, but also to be the best wing defender. Now that the Mavericks don't have him, they've pardoned Michael Finley, and their wing defense isn't the league's best defensive ability. The Mavericks can make the playoffs, but they definitely won't get far.

In the second half, the Suns replaced Haslem with two fouls and replaced Vallejo to strengthen the defense of the restricted area, and Dampier could not score easily. Howard, who scored 10 points, was substituted at the eight-minute mark, sending James Jones on to add a three-point shot.

Jones' task was simple, defending and pulling away from opportunities such as positioning, and he played well, hitting a three-pointer.

In the first quarter, the Suns led 36-26, Guo Xu made 3 of 4 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and scored 7 points and 7 assists.

Howard, who took a break for a while, came off the bench and partnered with Ariza and Payton on the outside, with Vallejo and David Lee on the inside.

The Suns rotation lineup without Nene and Joe Johnson is not as terrifying as last season, and they are no longer the "bench bandits" who often beat opponents, but they still fight with the Mavericks led by Devin Harris, Stackhouse, and Van Horn to maintain their advantage.

After Diop joined, the Mavericks' interior defense improved, and Dampier was able to defend the box after resting. However, Diop has little effect on the offensive end, and the bench swingman Adrian Griffin is also a blue-collar player, and the Mavericks rotate with two people who can let go and are difficult to score defensively.

As soon as Guo Xu, Marion, and Haslem returned, the Suns' run-and-gun tactics began to exert their power again.

Diop or Dampier suffered in terms of speed, and "Little General" Johnson made a wrong adjustment at this point, replacing the big man with Nowitzki and Van Horne on the inside and fighting with the Suns on offense.

Van Horn's form has been worse year by year, he hasn't played a full season on any team since 2003, and even the Knicks, who have a bunch of bad contracts, can't look down on him.

The "Little General" wanted him to come up and strengthen the offense, but Van Horn's scoring ability is no better than Dampier now, and his shooting percentage is very low. He can't beat Marion at No. 4, and Haslem will have an easier time defending Nowitzki than Dampier.

Van Horn, on the other hand, was a defensive black hole that couldn't keep up with Marion's pace, which scored on a fast-break break.

In Guo Xu's previous life, Van Horn, who was in the same class as Duncan, retired in 2006, but Duncan is still struggling like a rookie, with a huge gap. And compared to many people in the same class, Van Horn's career is quite short, and with his current defense, not many teams want him on a base salary after becoming a liberty in the summer.

The Mavericks coaching staff was very depressed, Van Horn was a black hole on the court, and the owner was dissatisfied if he didn't play. Because Van Horn is the Mavericks' No. 1 highest-paid salary, he has to take away $15.69 million this season, and Nowitzki's annual salary is only 13.84 million. Coupled with the salary of the pardoned captain Finley, the Mavericks have a total salary of 98.46 million this season, but they still can't beat the Suns.

The halftime Suns led by 15 points at 62-47. Guo Xu scored a double-double in 18 minutes, with 11 points and 12 assists.

Zhang reasonably commented: "Guo Xu will definitely get a big double-double today, with more assists than scores." ”

Xu Jicheng said: "He can really help his teammates become stronger, it's okay without three important players, and today Howard looks like an All-Star again, and other players can score." ”

Zhang Reasonable said: "Guo Xu shot 4 of 5, 2 of 2 free throws, the offensive efficiency is really high, his teammates have the opportunity to pass the ball, and he can play alone if he has a chance." ”

In the second half, the "little general" rested the two big men and sent a small lineup to fight with the Suns to attack, which he thought would be better anti-run-and-run.

But with Terry and Harris on the floor together, how could the Mavericks match the Suns in positional battles? Guo Xu has an advantage against Terry, and Howard has an advantage against Harris. Haslem and Marion, however, can reduce the scoring efficiency of Nowitzki and Stackhouse to a certain extent.

Guo Xu saw that the calf did not cover the clamp and began to increase his shots, his style of play was simple, the opponent was far away, he shook out of the space and retreated to jump shots, and when the opponent was close, he changed direction to break through.

Terry seems to be defending well every time, but in fact, if he can't cover it, he can't do it, Guo Xu hit three three-pointers in a single quarter, made two fouls and made four free throws, and a two-handed dunk in a counterattack, scoring 15 points and 2 assists in a single quarter.

The difference between the two sides widened to 29 points, and the third quarter went into garbage time.

Maverick fans watching the live broadcast are a little devastated, this season the Mavericks must be out of play again, the remnants of the Suns have lost this virtue, how can they win the championship?

Guo Xu continued to play in the final quarter, and D'Antoni sent Bale, Ariza, Jones, and David Lee.

The Sun's arrangement is to let Guo Xu take the young benches to practice, so that they can play a better role in the team. Marion played 30 minutes, scored 24 points and 8 rebounds and went off the court.

Guo Xu played five and a half minutes in the final quarter and then went off the break, and the Suns led by 36 points.

He played a total of 35.5 minutes, slashed 31 points, 3 rebounds, 17 assists and 1 steal, shooting over 70% from the field, 50% from three-point range, and hit all free throws.

The Suns got off to a good start with a 124-91 beating of the Mavericks.

All five players on the team scored in double figures, Marion and Howard scored 20+, and the 11 players who rotated all scored, and Kukoc did not get a chance to play, guarding the water cooler on the sidelines.

New signing Josh Powell didn't make the 12-man squad, he didn't play in the Suns preseason and training camp, and he lacked chemistry with his teammates, so he was the most marginal member of the team for the time being.

Although he didn't get a chance to play, Powell cheered on his teammates on the sidelines, and the Suns did not expect him to play in the opener.

He is now convinced that the Suns have a chance to defend their title......