Do not be fooled by the score (95-80), there were three classes of difference between the Suns and the Wizards. If there are only 15 points difference at the finish, it is because the Suns played with a hand behind their back in the 4th quarter. Because, before that, we attended a real demonstration of basketball. Six minutes balanced, and then the Paul/Ayton duo stepped on the accelerator with a first 7-0 to break (26-17), then a 15-0 at the start of the second quarter to knock out the teammates of Kyle Kuzma (48-23).
The meeting is already folded, and at the break, the Suns lead by 29 points. The Wizards only scored four baskets in the second quarter.
The rest will be of the same barrel with excessive pick-and-roll on which Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton will shine to bring the gap to +36, before finally releasing the pressure in the 4th quarter. Still deprived of Bradley Beal, the Wizards only scored 80 points.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The steamroller. In less than 20 minutes, the Suns folded the game. Quickly, they understood that there was no responder on their pick-and-roll. Chris Paul just read the defense, and gave golden assists to Deandre Ayton or JaVale McGee.
– Rebound dominance. With its Ayton-McGee-Biyombo triplet, Phoenix has one of the most impressive trios under the panels, and the Suns largely dominated the debates with two double-doubles for Ayton and McGee, and above all 64 rebounds to 42!
“Without Beal, it’s nothing. In the past, the Wizards have played and won without their best player. But something snapped in Washington, and the team is clueless and motionless. Result, the shots are taken without rhythm, out of systems, and inevitably, it is a festival of awkwardness. The Wizards remain on seven defeats in eight matches and the atmosphere in the locker room seems particularly gloomy.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Deandre Ayton. Finally freed from his various physical glitches, the Bahamian flew over this meeting with a level of play worthy of the last playoffs. 20 points and 16 rebounds for him tonight with +/- +24 points in 24 minutes! That is to say if the team was effective when he was on the pitch.
✅Chris Paul. The quiet force. He plays at his own pace, without forcing, and he throws the pick-and-roll with his eyes closed. A real mastermind who always serves in the right timing his greats.
⛔ Kyle Kuzma. He had launched his team well before completely disappearing from the radar. In his defense, the whole team was catastrophic, with the possible exception of Aaron Holiday.
THE FOLLOWING
Washington (23-28) : reception of the Heat on Monday evening.
Phoenix (42-10) : complicated trip Monday on the Chicago side.
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