The Su-Curry Connection left Mike Breen clicking his tongue in disbelief.
At the same time.
"Beep, beep!"
Blake Su's fast-break windmill dunk gave the Suns a perfect 7-0 start and forced the Hornets to call timeout.
Because there was already a precedent, that dominant connection between Blake Su and Curry was immediately captured by multiple baseline cameramen. Quite a few fans saw it live as well.
And.
The director put it on the big screen right away, letting the entire arena, along with every fan watching the broadcast, see it clearly.
"Wow~"
"The Su-Curry Connection?!"
"My god, Curry even stretched out his arms early to celebrate, and Blake Su caught the pass for a windmill dunk. That Su-Curry Connection is exactly like the world-famous painting of the [LeBron-Wade Connection]!"
"Whoa! So cool!"
"Hey, I just realized, this new duo of Blake Su and Curry... the [Su-Curry Connection] seems seriously powerful too!"
"Be confident. Drop the 'seems.' That's Blake Su, the best center in the game, and Curry, a dual-threat guard and elite shooter.
The [Su-Curry Duo] is just that strong!"
"Yeah."
"Exactly!"
"One is the [LeBron-Wade Connection], and the other is the [Su-Curry Connection]. Wow, both duos are terrifying. This makes me look forward to the Suns versus Heat matchup even more."
"Seriously, I can't wait either!"
"..."
The equally perfect, dominant, and confident [Su-Curry Connection] drew waves of gasps from the fans. Amid their amazement, their anticipation for the Suns and Heat matchup grew even stronger.
However.
Tonight was still the Suns against the Hornets.
"Beep, beep!"
After the timeout.
Everyone's attention returned to the game.
That opening 7-0 run had already hit the Hornets hard, and the [Su-Curry Connection] on the big screen, looking almost identical to the [LeBron-Wade Connection], only made things worse.
It struck another blow to the Hornets players' confidence.
Facing rookies as strong as Blake Su and Curry, plus Nash controlling the tempo, the Hornets, with only "The Point God" Paul to rely on, had no idea how they were supposed to win.
They looked lost and helpless.
By the end of the first quarter, the Hornets were down by 11.
In the second quarter.
The Suns' offensive efficiency dipped, and the Hornets steadied themselves. Although they did not cut much into the deficit, they kept the gap within 10 points.
They planned to keep chasing after halftime.
But then... Blake Su went into rampage mode. Threes in quick succession, repeated post-ups, drives to the rim, every kind of attack. He poured in 16 points by himself in the quarter.
The lead instantly ballooned to 19.
At the same time.
The Hornets' confidence fell apart.
In the final quarter, with the Hornets showing no desire to attack, head coach Monty Williams held on for six minutes before reluctantly calling timeout.
Five in, five out.
They gave up on the game.
With the matchup reduced to garbage time, the rest passed quickly. In the end, the Suns took down the Hornets with ease, beating them for the fourth time this season and completing the season sweep.
...
The next day.
No one paid much attention to the Suns beating the Hornets and extending their win streak to four games. Instead, the GIF of the [Su-Curry Connection] caught fire online.
In terms of entertainment value.
It was not inferior at all to the world-famous painting of the [LeBron-Wade Connection].
The only issue was that Blake Su and Curry's popularity, at least for now, still could not compare with LeBron and Wade's. So in terms of buzz, it was still slightly behind.
Even so.
It still drew plenty of praise.
While the internet was buzzing, inside the Suns' practice facility.
"Wow~ wow~~ wow~~~"
George looked at the Phoenix Worker's Gazette and shouted excitedly at Curry, "The Su-Curry Connection was insanely cool. Stephen, that early celebration was awesome."
"Yeah."
Goran Dragić was just as excited. "It was practically identical to the [LeBron-Wade Connection]. Blake Su, Curry, your chemistry is incredible."
Blake Su shrugged, not making much of it.
"Hehe!"
Curry rubbed his head, grinning from ear to ear. "Right? I just thought that world-famous painting of the [LeBron-Wade Connection] was too cool, so I wanted to copy it."
That was right.
Curry had been blown away by the world-famous painting of the [LeBron-Wade Connection] and wanted to imitate it. During the game against the Hornets, when he found the chance, he went for it.
Of course.
That was only because he had absolute faith in Blake Su's ability.
Otherwise, if it ended up like "Swaggy P" Nick Young trying to imitate "Agent Zero" Arenas by shooting a three, turning around without watching the ball, and celebrating... only to fail.
That could easily land him on the season's Top Five Blunders.
"You two... not bad at all!"
Nash also came over to praise them.
Carter clapped and laughed. "Haha, our Suns have our own young version of the [LeBron-Wade Connection] now. Our potential is unlimited!"
"That's right!"
"Of course. The Suns are the strongest!"
Everyone was in a great mood.
"What's going on? Why is everyone so happy?"
At that moment, Alvin Gentry walked onto the court with a document in hand. He came to the middle of the group, and when he saw that the [Su-Curry Connection] had made the headlines, he was delighted too.
At the same time.
As everyone kept praising Blake Su and Curry, he smiled faintly and said, "Blake Su and Curry are indeed amazing, but... when it comes to rookies, Paul George is pretty good too.
His potential is excellent as well.
In the future, this Suns team of ours will unleash a level of strength that will make people tremble!"
At that point.
He paused, then opened the document in his hand and continued, "Today, besides the spectacular [Su-Curry Connection], there's something else worth celebrating.
Something even better."
"Even better? What is it?"
Everyone looked at him expectantly.
Gentry smiled and said, "After beating the Hornets last night, our record this season is now 53-12. First in the West, and first in the league.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies, currently eighth in the West, are 35-30.
So from here on... even if we lose all 17 of our remaining games, our record will still be 53-29.
And even if the eighth-place Grizzlies win all 17 of their remaining games, their record would only be 52-30, still 0.5 games behind us.
So.
After beating the Hornets, our Suns have locked up a playoff spot with 17 games to spare!"
Buzz!
As soon as those words came out, the Suns players went quiet.
"Really?!"
Curry was the first to cry out.
"Absolutely!"
Gentry smiled and nodded.
"Wow!"
"That's amazing!"
Curry shouted with joy. Then George, Goran Dragić, and the others finally reacted, jumping and cheering in excitement.
"Slap!"
Nash and Carter high-fived, both smiling with emotion.
At the start of the season, they had not even dared to dream about the playoffs. Now, not only were they first in the West and first in the league, they had locked up a playoff spot a full 17 games early.
It was completely unexpected.
Nash smiled and could not help looking toward Blake Su. Then he said with a grin, "Blake Su, thank you. You've done great. You've done an incredible job!
You're a natural-born leader!
The soul of our team!!
The boss of the Suns!!!"