The Suns beat the Rockets again at home, and the Rockets were in poor form after the star break, dropping to eighth in the West.

Francis was in a slump, playing 29 minutes in the game, shooting 2-of-7, 1-of-3 from three-point range, and no free throws, with only five points, six rebounds and two assists. Which is the data of the star?

Francis can't get rid of Guo Xu, who can't get rid of the full defense with the ball, and Marion is also very active in blocking and dismantling Marion's cameo power forward to change defense, and the Suns 122 joint defense, the players will shrink near the penalty area, which is a good restriction on Yao Ming and Francis's play, so that they can only shoot outside the penalty area.

Yao Ming said that the mid-range shot in one step within the three-point line is more certain, Francis is almost useless when he encounters the joint defense, and he is looking for a hat when he rushes to the penalty area, he is in good health, Xiao Si and Nene are also in good health, as well as height and arm span advantages.

Tomjanovic repeatedly persuaded Francis to practice shooting more, but he didn't know that the "privileged" Boss Francis was either in a nightclub or on the way to a nightclub when he was on vacation, and this kind of thing did not exist.

Glen Rice, the Rockets' bench small forward, played at a super level, shooting 8-of-11 and 7-of-8 from three-point range to finish with 23 points and 5 rebounds, and the Rockets still lost by 11 points.

The Suns also have veterans who play at a super level, Kukoc came off the bench for 24 minutes, shooting 6 of 9 three-pointers, not inferior to Rice, and scored 22 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

Kukoc has been in good form for the last two months, coming off the bench in the No. 4 position, allowing Haslem to sit completely on the bench and focus on losing weight.

Kukoc, who is nearly 35 years old, is getting slower and slower, but when he plays, the Suns not only have one more three-point shooting point on the inside, but also can play inside strategy and playmaking, and the positional offense is more fluid than when Nene and Xiaosi were on the court together.

The Suns' away game against the Raptors was simpler, Marion's Carter scored only 13 points in the game, and the Raptors lost by 30 points in an almost defenseless state, going into garbage time in the third quarter, and the final score was 120-87.

The Raptors didn't even have a good point guard, and Guo Xu only played 24 minutes before resting. In Guo Xu's previous life, the Raptors introduced Alston as an important rotation of the team this season, and now the "street ball king" plays for the Suns.

While winning in a row, Guo Xu got another piece of good news. The Mavericks, the main rival in the regular season, were in crisis, the main center LaFrentz was out due to injury, and the Mavericks lost to the Magic and Grizzlies in succession, and the Suns only trailed the Mavericks by one game and ranked second in the West.

The Mavericks lost to the Grizzlies by 21 points, which was a big surprise.

Although Lafrentz has a single role on the offensive end, he can play some role on the defensive end, with enough strength to resist and good blocking ability. Before the injury, the Mavericks played against the Rockets, and Lafrentz single-handedly blocked Yao Ming's three big hats.

Now that the Mavericks have no protection in the restricted area, the "big bamboo pole" Bradley was forced to enter the starting lineup, the strength of the defense inside is not good, the defense movement is too slow, and he relies on his height of 229CM to mess around in the restricted area. The restricted area is also not easy to mix, and after the NBA added the three-second rule of defense, Bradley's role is getting smaller and smaller.

At this time, the Mavericks coaching staff looked at the Grizzlies' backup center Chacalidis and felt very good, if there was this person on the team, the defense would be much better, at least it would not let the opponent easily score under the basket, and the high shooting percentage scored two points.

The team has lost on the interior defense for several years in a row, and Mavericks fans have expressed their dissatisfaction on the Internet, and some people have proposed that Cuban change the manager, and the management will not blindly toss the Mavericks to win the championship early.

Since the "3J combination", the Mavericks have not lacked stars, but their lineup configuration has always been unreasonable, and the management team building does not look at the chemistry at all, and should indeed bear some responsibility for the loss.

On the 21st, the Suns flew to the road to face the Wizards.

After a big change in the team's roster in the summer, the Wizards still can't make the playoffs.

The young shooting guard Hamilton who sent away became the Pistons' leading scorer and gave the Wizards management a resounding slap in the face. The traded Stackhouse averaged 21 points and 4.5 assists per game while shooting just 41 percent from the field and 29 percent from three-point range.

For the Wizards to win, what they need is not a swingman blacksmith who attacks with the ball, but an interior player who can score.

Jordan's shooting percentage has improved this year, reaching 45%, and he is averaging 20+6+4 per game, but he completely fell off the altar after the star break, and everyone knows that he can't lead the team to win on his own.

Not to mention the 40-year-old Jordan, even if he is a peak Jordan, with such a group of interior partners in the Wizards, he will not win the championship and lead the team to the playoffs at most.

Hywood, Kwame Brown, Leitner, Etang Thomas and other interior players lack offensive power, and Leitner's ability to pull out and block and catch the ball is even if it has a tactical effect, and his strength is not much better than that of Gugliotta, a man on the edge of the Suns.

As the No. 1 high school player in NBA history, Kwame Brown's performance surprised everyone. He was suspended by the Wizards this season for complaining about too little playing time and missing the team's practice due to illness. Brown was also in trouble off the field, twice driving over the speed limit and was arrested.

Brown also clashed with team boss Jordan and coach Collins because he was often reprimanded by "Flyer" Jordan, and many home fans booed him when he played this time.

The Suns won by 23 points, the three of the team scored 20+, Guo Xu cut 30 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists, and beat the Wizards' starting point guard Larry Hughes, who only had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

The Suns left Washington that night and flew to New York to play the Knicks away on the 24th.

This is a focus battle, and it was hyped three days in advance. Not only because Marbury led the team to face his old club, the two teams have many stars, but also because Guo Xu was going to attend the Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on the 23rd.

At present, Marbury is averaging 20.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game, shooting 44% from the field, 31.2% from three-point range, and 80.3% from the free throw line.

However, the Knicks, the league's highest-paid team, won less than half of the time, losing to the Pistons last time out, and with a number of famous attackers, the team scored just 82 points.

Marbury, Sprewell, and Alan Houston contributed 4-of-14 shooting, 3-of-13 shooting, and 3-of-10 shooting respectively.

Marbury and Sprewell did not perform well, and publicly tore each other apart after the game, saying that they didn't like each other. The old coach Don Cheney lamented at the press conference: "The hearts of the people are scattered, and the team is not easy to lead." ”

As early as before the start of this season, Sprewell had already been separated from Knicks management, and the countdown to leave the team had begun. He slipped on his yacht in the summer and fractured his palm, concealed it and did not report it, and was fined $250,000 by the Knicks, after which he scolded the Knicks for being a high-level hypocrite.

Funnily enough, just looking at the lineup, the Knicks are now the only "Big Four" team in the league, and the Nuggets still traded McDies to the Knicks.

There is no Nenei, even if it is just Marcus Camby, the Nuggets are willing, plus blue-collar interior Ocella Harrington. McDice played a few games before Knicks management found out he had been fooled again, his form was severely declining, and he was soon reimbursed for a serious injury.

In contrast, Knicks management is grateful to the Suns, and both men who were traded were firefighters and played a huge role. The Suns are just trading back as a No. 7 rookie, which is the conscience of heaven and earth, and this is the only time that the Knicks have made a profit.