Both teams' starting lineups took the court.
Suns starters: point guard Nash, shooting guard Curry, small forward George, power forward Blake, and center Yao Ming.
Lakers starters: point guard Paul, shooting guard Kobe, small forward Artest, 211-centimeter power forward Troy Murphy, and center Bynum.
Just looking at those two lineups was enough to get the fans' blood pumping.
Everyone wanted to see the two teams trade blows in an all-out offensive battle.
"Jump ball!"
Blake and Bynum stepped into the circle for the opening tip.
Was there any suspense?
Not even a little.
Blake easily knocked the ball away.
"Tap!"
Nash calmly collected it and pushed up the floor, running the Suns' first possession of the game.
In the commentary booth, Van Gundy looked at Nash's relaxed expression and laughed.
"Look at how calm Steve is. It's almost like he assumes the first possession always belongs to Phoenix."
"Hehe."
Mike Breen smiled. "There's no rule saying that, but with Blake taking the jump ball, it practically does."
"Hahaha!"
On the court, Nash settled at the left side of the arc.
Yao Ming came up to screen, and Nash accelerated down the left wing, shook Paul, and drove into the paint, where Bynum stepped up.
But Nash did not panic.
He kept going along the baseline, reached the right side, and whipped the ball out to Curry on the right wing.
A three?
No.
Curry swung it across to Blake on the left side of the arc.
Blake caught the pass and fired immediately.
Murphy was right in front of him, but Blake still took the three without hesitation.
The ball flew over Murphy's head like an arrow released from a bow and dropped cleanly through the net.
"Swish!"
Nothing but net.
With Pau Gasol gone, Murphy was only a bench-level power forward.
Even when he got right into Blake's face, his defense might as well not have existed.
"Wow~ Blake just drilled that three right over Murphy. Same as always, completely unreasonable!"
"Absolutely ridiculous."
Suns 3, Lakers 0.
Possession changed.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
Chris Paul brought the ball up and handed it off to Kobe at the top of the key.
Kobe faced Curry and probed with the ball.
Then he suddenly exploded down the right wing.
"Screech!"
He stopped on a dime, rose, and fired a mid-range jumper.
Curry could not stay with him.
He jumped from the side to contest, but it was too late.
"Clang!"
Unfortunately for Kobe, the shot had just a little too much on it and bounced off the rim.
Rebound?
Bynum battled Yao Ming for position and got to the ball first.
Just as he tried to go back up for a second-chance shot, George rotated over to help.
Bynum was forced to kick it back out to Paul on the right side of the arc.
Paul kept the ball moving, bouncing another pass to Kobe at the left elbow.
Kobe was wide open.
He caught it and rose for another mid-range jumper.
Blake sprinted out from the free-throw line and tried to contest, but he was too far away and came up just short.
"Clang!"
Kobe missed again.
"Kobe's touch doesn't look great to start the game."
"Right. He's getting good looks, but the shots just aren't falling. That's a shame."
This time, Yao Ming secured the rebound.
He passed to Nash, who moved it ahead to George.
George accelerated into the open floor on the break.
Would he take it himself or pass?
He sent it back to Blake trailing the play.
Blake stopped one step beyond the left side of the three-point line.
He ignored Murphy in front of him and prepared to pull up for a transition three.
But Kobe arrived just in time.
Double team.
Blake immediately swung the ball across the court.
Curry caught it on the right side of the arc and launched a three.
"Swish!"
Right through the net.
"Curry looks so much more confident this year," Mike Breen said. "The moment he sees an opening, he shoots without hesitation, and the efficiency has been good too."
"Exactly."
Van Gundy nodded. "Curry was always talented. The problem early in his career with the Warriors was that his role overlapped with Monta Ellis."
"That made it difficult for him to put up numbers."
"Now that he's in Phoenix, his shooting is being used to its full potential. There's nothing surprising about him playing at this level."
"And he's a third-year player now. With more experience to go with the talent he already had, it's natural that he keeps getting better."
"That's true."
On the court, possession changed again.
Paul brought the ball up and first passed to Kobe.
George and Curry immediately sent a double team, so Kobe gave it right back.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
Paul reset against Nash, using several crossovers to find his rhythm before suddenly accelerating down the right wing and leaving Nash behind.
He floated the ball toward the rim.
"Clang!"
No good.
But Kobe grabbed the offensive rebound under the basket.
With Yao Ming and George both contesting, he hung in the air between them and sent a difficult high bank shot off the glass.
"Swish!"
It dropped.
"Wow~ That was a ridiculous shot by Kobe."
"Yeah. There aren't many players with the ability to make a bank shot that difficult."
Mike Breen and Van Gundy could not help but praise him.
But Phoenix immediately attacked in transition.
Blake sprinted at full speed and drove straight toward the rim.
Artest and Murphy both collapsed to stop him.
Blake kicked the ball back out to Nash.
Nash caught it and immediately lofted a high pass toward the basket.
An alley-oop?
Was he looking for Blake?
That was the Lakers' first thought.
But on the opposite side of Blake, Paul George suddenly soared into the air.
He caught the ball with both hands.
"BOOM!"
George slammed home a powerful two-handed alley-oop.
The spectacular dunk sent another wave of cheers through the home arena.
On the very next transition possession, Nash found Curry at the top of the key, then sent the ball toward Blake cutting along the baseline.
Blake rose high into the air.
Murphy had barely managed to recover, but it did not matter.
Blake caught the ball with one hand and hammered down a tomahawk alley-oop.
In the blink of an eye, the Suns led 10-2.
Less than three minutes into the game, Phoenix had unleashed a 10-2 run and gotten off to a dream start.
And they were doing it against the Lakers.
What everyone had expected to be an explosive back-and-forth battle suddenly looked almost one-sided.
"BOOM!"
Caught completely off guard by the start, the home crowd erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Beep, beep!"
Mike Brown called timeout.
Mike Brown?
That's right.
"Zen Master" Phil Jackson had stepped down and officially retired during the summer.
Before retiring, he had played an important role in bringing "The Point God" Paul to the Lakers.
That had worked out well for Los Angeles.
The team's new head coach was Mike Brown.
During the timeout, Van Gundy clicked his tongue in the commentary booth.
"Wow..."
"Against a Lakers team with Paul and Kobe, Phoenix has opened the game 10-2?!"
"Is this what the defending champions look like in the new season? They're strong. Really strong."
"And it's not just 'The Emperor' Blake maintaining his level."
"The key is that Curry and George have both clearly improved after the offseason, and that's raised the Suns' overall strength another level."
"This year's Suns just keep getting stronger!"
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (40 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.