On the court.
The final hour of warm-up training slipped by amid the roaring atmosphere inside the arena.
"Tap!"
The starters from both teams began taking the floor. The official game was about to begin.
Phoenix Suns starting lineup: 191 cm point guard Steve Nash, 191 cm shooting guard Stephen Curry, 206 cm small forward Paul George, 211 cm power forward Channing Frye, and 215 cm center Blake Su.
Memphis Grizzlies starting lineup: 185 cm point guard Mike Conley, 193 cm shooting guard Tony Allen, 203 cm small forward Rudy Gay, 206 cm power forward Zach Randolph, and 216 cm center Marc Gasol.
"Jump ball!"
Blake Su and Marc Gasol met at center court for the opening tip. Even though Marc Gasol gave it everything he had, against absolute talent, it still was not enough.
"Smack!"
Blake Su tipped the ball away again. Frye caught it and handed it to Nash, who pushed into the frontcourt to run the Suns' first possession of the game, as well as their first possession of the playoffs.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Nash set up at the top of the arc, with Conley following him. After scanning the floor, Nash lobbed the ball to the right high post, where Blake Su caught it with his back against Marc Gasol.
"Step!"
Almost at the same time,
Gay slid over from the wing and pressed up with Marc Gasol, trapping Blake Su.
"Whoa..."
"They're double-teaming Blake Su right from the start?!"
Inside the broadcast studio,
Mike Breen cried out in surprise. Van Gundy also looked stunned and said, "They're double-teaming Blake Su on the very first possession. The Grizzlies are clearly determined to choke him off."
On the court.
"Whoosh!"
Blake Su faked a pass back to Nash, trying to draw Gay over, but Gay did not bite at all. Instead, he pounced even harder, pressing Blake Su and trying to force a turnover.
"Whoosh!"
Blake Su saw the opening and decisively passed to Nash at the top of the arc. The ball swung again to Curry on the left wing. It was a good look, and Curry raised his hand for a three.
But
"Whoosh!"
Tony Allen, who had originally switched onto George in the left low post, rushed out with everything he had, doing all he could to bother Curry's shot.
"Clang!"
The actual contest did not look like much, but that intensity still pressured Curry, and the shot hit the iron.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Under the basket, Randolph fought Frye for position and secured the rebound, then gave the ball to Conley to push into the frontcourt. Conley reached the top of the arc and faced Nash's defense.
"Whoosh!"
He accelerated.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Conley kept forcing contact, muscling past Nash and attacking the rim. George rotated over in time to help, but Conley's pass came just as quickly.
"Whoosh!"
He handed it off to Gay, who cut in from the other side and finished an easy layup.
On the next possession,
Randolph set a high screen for Conley. Conley came around the pick and drove to one side while Randolph rolled down. Seeing the gap, Conley threaded the pass through.
"Smack!"
Randolph took a hop step into the paint and collided fiercely with Frye, who had followed him inside. He powered Frye out of the way, jumped again,
"Bang!"
"Swish!"
and banked it in.
"Tsk, tsk... Nash's defense is a little weak, sure, but it's still rare to see Conley attack this hard. Randolph is playing so physically, just using his body to bully Frye.
Both of those possessions worked well."
Inside the broadcast, Mike Breen clicked his tongue as he spoke.
Van Gundy tapped the table with his finger and nodded. "That's exactly the right way to attack. The Grizzlies have come out with a lot of momentum tonight.
No.
In fact, this is the rhythm and intensity of the playoffs."
As he was speaking,
on the court,
the possession changed hands, and Blake Su was double-teamed once again. However... George also stepped up to set a screen, allowing Blake Su to shake off Marc Gasol.
At the top of the arc, Blake Su faced Gay one-on-one.
But the matchup lasted only a few seconds before Tony Allen's help defense arrived again. The goal was obvious. They wanted to smother Blake Su completely.
"Bang!"
Blake Su's gaze sharpened. He made a quick fake drive, causing Allen to lower his center of gravity while Gay prepared to press up. But at that moment... Blake Su, who had been reading the defense the entire time,
"Whoosh!"
rose straight up.
Before Allen could fully complete the double-team again, Blake Su shot over Gay's defense, fading back slightly on the jumper.
"Clang!"
The shot hit the rim and bounced out.
"That was a tough shot over Gay's head, but... because it's Blake Su, even though it didn't go in, it was still a reasonable attempt!"
Randolph grabbed the rebound again.
He gave it to Allen, who brought it up and passed to Marc Gasol at the high post. Conley and Gay moved on both sides, and Marc Gasol took the opportunity to throw a high pass to Randolph under the basket.
"I knew it!"
George's eyes sharpened, and he rushed toward the paint, immediately joining Frye to double-team Randolph.
"Whoosh!"
Randolph passed it out to the rolling Marc Gasol, who moved the ball again to Conley in the left corner. Conley caught it, raised his hand, and fired a three.
Quick release, clean finish.
"Swish!"
Nothing but net.
Nash slowly dribbled up the court, steadying the tempo, then handed the ball to Blake Su at the top of the arc. Once again, Blake Su faced Gay's defense.
"Step!"
Marc Gasol was lurking on the wing again, watching closely. After a brief pause, he pressed up once more, joining Gay to double-team Blake Su.
"Whoosh!"
Blake Su passed out of it.
In the left corner, Curry caught the ball wide open. This was a real opportunity, but the highly active Allen chased out like mad.
He closed hard.
That made Curry hesitate for a split second, costing him the best shooting window. By the time he recovered, Allen's closeout had already arrived.
"Whoosh!"
Seeing that the opportunity was gone, Curry passed back out to the perimeter, wanting to return the ball to Blake Su, but Marc Gasol read it and intercepted the pass halfway.
A Suns turnover.
"Whoosh!"
Conley rushed out, grabbed the ball, and sprinted to the left side of the arc. Riding his hot hand, he pulled up for another transition three. Could he hit it again?!
"Swish!"
Straight through the heart.
Another one.
"Beep, beep!"
After Conley hit two straight threes, Coach Gentry had no choice but to call a timeout, because... the Grizzlies, despite being on the road, had taken control tonight.
They had already gone on a 10-0 run.
On the Suns' home court, they had handed the Suns an absolute nightmare start!
"Wh... what's going on?!"
During the timeout,
the Suns fans in the home crowd stared at the 10-0 score with wide, stunned eyes, their minds buzzing. They could not believe what they were seeing!