The Suns' summer signings weren't considered successful, with Espn giving them a C rating, and if it weren't for Fox Leon's arrival, they might have to give them a D. Players like Barry and Jascovitius are either old, short, or haven't proven themselves, in short, they have obvious flaws.

And in the eyes of some, none of these players have outstanding physical fitness, which seems really inappropriate for the Suns, who are good at playing fast. In the opening game against the SuperSonics, the performance of this group of substitutes was only acceptable, and it did not show the Suns to show a sense of speed.

At the start of the second quarter, Leon looked like he was going to let Stoudemire lead the group forward, and Jasco Vicius possessed the ball through the half, and the European king arrived in Phoenix to gain weight on the advice of the team doctor and trainer to improve his defensive confrontation, while also intensifying his three-point shooting and recuperating in Arizona's dry climate.

At this time, he was full of energy, Dio made a cover for him in the high post, Jasco Waisius burst through the middle, dribbled sideways low to avoid the defender, and shot a direct mid-range jumper in one step inside the three-point line! The ball hollows into the net, which is almost the same position as the FIBA three-point line, and he feels comfortable shooting here.

A simple and efficient offense, the score came to 31:33, and then in the defense, Dio made a successful steal, Jascovisius held the ball and advanced quickly, the Lakers were a little slow to retreat, Jascovisius passed the ball to the inserted Stoudemire, and Xiaosi received the ball and dunked directly violently! The second quarter was less than a minute long and the two sides were tied.

It's normal to tie, after Kobe Bryant left the court, the Lakers lacked a core on the court, and the offensive end was a little overwhelmed, Jackson looked at the time and felt that these people could hold on a little longer. As a result, when the position was attacked, it was found that the Sun actually defended a joint defense! This made the Lakers players a little overwhelmed, the league has just introduced joint defense in the past two years, and there are not many teams that use it well, but Fox Leon's team is undoubtedly the number one.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the U.S. team was at a loss for Lithuania's defense, and Jascovisius was in the same Lithuanian team and killed the Dream Team with three three-pointers.

The Lakers keep passing the ball on the outside, but they never find good opportunities, for players like Barry and Jasco Vitius, who are a little old and slow, but have a very bright brain, the joint defense is really the most suitable for their defense, which is why Leon dares to use this old and sick second team, he is the best defensive trainer in the league.

In the end, the Lakers' Farmar missed a three-point shot on the outside, Stoudemire got the rebound, and it was another counterattack, Jascovisius held the ball and rushed to the three-second zone again, this time the Lakers defended in a timely manner, Jascovisius turned around and passed the ball to Dio in the high post, Dio and Xiao Si made a high cover cooperation, Xiao Si cut inside, and Dio dropped the ball into Xiao Si's hands.

The Lakers' defenders are not stupid, knowing that Dio's three-point ability is insufficient, the two directly wrapped Xiao Si inside, Xiao Si has no chance to be strong, and it will take three seconds to stand a little longer, he remembered Leon's command - there must be someone on the wing, so he passed the ball to the bottom left corner, where Brent Barry was standing.

Barry received the ball, made a weighty topsy shot, and hit a three-pointer.

The young dunker who once showed that "white people can fly" has become a solid shooter for more than a decade, and he doesn't stick to the ball at all, he had a 42 percent three-point shooting percentage with the Spurs last season, and Leon took a fancy to him and traded him. He's going to score two or three of those threes a game, and he's satisfied.

At 36:33, the Suns outscored by three points, and the little advantage the Lakers had built up in the first quarter through reasonable distribution of the ball was gone, and they looked like they could do little about the Suns' joint defense on the offensive end. Leon was betting on the Lakers' outside shooting percentage, which Jackson used in the playoffs and is now being used by Leon on his own.

Sure enough, the Lakers, who had no offensive focus, could only guide the ball over on the outside, and finally the ball hit Kwame Brown's hands, Kwame Brown wanted to turn around and eat it inside, but was split by Stoudemire and covered with a big hat! The ball was directly fanned out!

Rookie Dudley grabbed the ball and immediately distributed the ball to Jasco Vitius, the Suns launched a counterattack, the ball was finally transmitted to Dio's hands, Dio got the ball in the middle, Stoudemire came over, the two completed a cross change, Dio directly hung the ball into the inside, Stoudemire jumped high, an air relay, and brought the ball into the basket!

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Suns beat the Lakers a 9:0! Successfully overtook the score to 38:33, and the four-point deficit became a five-point lead, and then Phil Jackson had to call a timeout, and he had to replace Kobe Bryant. The court has lost its offensive strength, and in the face of the Suns' joint defense, the Lakers' benches really have no choice.

Leon looked up at the time, and only two minutes into the second quarter, forced Kobe Bryant on the court early, so that the purpose of coming off the bench was achieved. Knowing that Kobe Bryant was going to play, Leon made another adjustment, replacing the old Barry and replacing Raga Bell to the counterpoint, although Bell couldn't prevent Kobe, but he could always create some trouble, which was better than letting the old Barry die.

After Bell returned to the court, the Suns still maintained at least two players on the outside with fixed-point three-point ability on the wing, Dudley was half of it, and although Jasco Waisius was a point guard, he and Dio shared the ball on the court. The offense of this bench lineup is actually trained by D'Antoni, which is an improved version of the V-shaped attack in the past.

The improvement is that Dio is sometimes the V-tip of the V-shaped attack, and Jascovitius falls to the flank to pick up, and in the summer Leon let Dio lose weight, he is not allowed to drink, and he is not allowed to eat fat, so Dior's speed and explosiveness are in a very good state.

At the end of the timeout, Kobe Bryant really returned to the court, this feeling of leading on the court, falling behind on the court, and then chasing points on the court, he really felt annoyed. His team-mates were in good shape today and he wanted to sit on the bench a little longer, but after only two minutes, he had to come back on.

In one game, Kobe Bryant took the ball, and the Suns gave up the joint defense, and in the face of a top breakthrough player like Kobe, the pseudo-joint defense without three seconds of defense would be directly penetrated. The Lakers still have a triangle offense, giving the ball to Kobe Bryant at 45 degrees on the left side, one-on-one opportunity, the Suns did not carry out any wrapping, Kobe Bryant faced his old opponent Rajabel, shook his center of gravity away with a realistic feint, and then dribbled past Bell in one step, dribbled the ball with his left hand and hit the basket, and made an easy layup with his left hand!

Stoudemire still didn't help defend, let Kobe Bryant win in the sky, it's not that he doesn't want to defend, it's that Leon doesn't need him to help defend, it doesn't matter, just get it back on the offensive end.

But the Lakers will not let Xiao Si play alone easily, when Jasco Waisius and Xiao Si completed the blocking and dismantling cooperation in the corner position, Xiao Si received the pass and cut straight to the basket, the Lakers left and right three bread clamps, forcing Xiao Si under the basket, but Xiao Si still used his strong body to dribble and hit a gap, and distributed the ball to Dudley who was ambushed in the bottom left corner, Dudley received the ball and shot three points!

…… A three-point non-stick, the ball came directly over the bridge, Kobe Bryant grabbed the ball, obviously Dudley has not yet adapted to the NBA's three-point line, this game is also his first appearance, the first time to catch the ball, it is understandable to shoot like this.

But Kobe's teammates on the Lakers' side were not much better, Kobe Bryant dribbled through the half, saw Jordan Farmar take the lead to the basket, Kobe Bryant stuffed a ground-hitting pass into the inside, Farmar received the ball and was about to go to the basket, but the person rushed a little too much, and smashed the ball under the basket and collapsed as soon as he raised the ball, and the Bell who followed took back the ball, or the Suns attacked.

Kobe Bryant looked at it and wanted to shake his head, Farmar is also a second-year rookie, making mistakes is the way to go, Bale who got the ball back did not reduce the rhythm, Leon said during the pause, the second lineup stage must be played fast, the ball was immediately transmitted to Dio's hands, he dribbled on the outside, and Dudley went to the horn position to cover.

The two of them blocked and dismantled slowly, Dio squeezed into the three-second zone with his body on the defender, and then hit the board with a one-handed throw, the Lakers didn't cover it, he attacked by himself, and he could score.

Both sides played very fast, and the Suns obviously had the advantage in the fast pace, which is the rhythm they are familiar with and good at, relying on the new triangle composed of the three points of Xiaosi, Dio, and Jascovitius, the offense of the Suns bench lineup can be said to be quite smooth, and the distribution of the ball is also quite reasonable. D'Antoni sat on the sidelines and watched the effect of this combination, and he had to admire Fox Leon's unique sense of smell in the lineup, and after only a few practices, it had a good effect.

Of course, their defense is still relatively poor, the Suns' score is climbing up little by little, the Lakers are still chasing very tightly, and in the middle of the second quarter, the main forces of both sides have reappeared. And the Suns, insist on letting Bell go alone to single defense, not wrapping up, not doing defensive traps, and not fouling, you can let you shoot, and if you have the ability, you can shoot me.

Before the end of the second quarter, Bryant hit two consecutive three-pointers on the offensive end, turning the score to 59:60, narrowing the gap to only 1 point. Bryant, who scored only 4 points in the first quarter, scored 16 points in the second quarter and scored 20 points at halftime. On the Suns' side, the top scorer was Xiao Si, who scored 14 points, and no one else scored in double figures, but it was very average, of which Nash currently only scored 6 points and handed out 3 assists, which doesn't look like the performance of two MVPs.

However, at halftime, Nash's mood was very relaxed, unprecedentedly relaxed.