However, the Spurs were clearly celebrating too soon.
Because the Phoenix Suns still had Hardaway.
In clutch time, in a high-stakes game, Hardaway never went soft.
He'd played against Jordan. What was this in comparison?
He dribbled the ball rhythmically, then suddenly exploded forward. In a single step, he left Parker behind.
Parker's defense had never been considered good.
In fact, before the series even started, Chen Yu had felt that the Phoenix Suns should run their offense through Hardaway.
It was like Tian Ji's horse race. At the power forward position, Nowitzki versus Duncan wasn't much of an advantage—in fact, there was no advantage at all.
On the perimeter, however, Parker was at too much of a size disadvantage.
He was already at a disadvantage against average point guards, let alone against Hardaway, the league's number one tall point guard.
