"What do you mean?"
Lance looked puzzled.
Gentry frowned and continued, "Throughout this Finals series, everyone on the Suns has played well.
"Almost flawlessly, in fact.
"But no player can stay efficient every single game. Everyone has nights when their shot just won't fall, even the Heat Big Three.
"Even someone like 'King James,' one of the top five players in the league, can struggle. He completely lost his touch in Game 1.
"And George, Curry, and the others are still rookies. They're young, after all. On the biggest stage, under this kind of pressure, they're bound to have bad nights too.
"Veterans like Nash and Carter can also fall into a slump at any time because of their age and physical condition.
"But the worst possible thing is for that slump to happen tonight.
"For us, tonight is the toughest road game we'll face. It might even be harder than a potential Game 7.
"And now, the way George and Curry are playing suggests that tonight might be one of those bad nights.
"Against an ordinary opponent, even if they struggled and their shots weren't falling, we'd still have Blake to carry the load and force out a win.
"But our opponent is the Heat Big Three. They're so strong that we need an unexpected contributor to step up, or Blake to give everything he has on both ends, just to have a chance of beating them.
"We don't need George and Curry to explode. We just need them to stay steady.
"But tonight, it looks like they can't even do that. The thing I've been worried about all along has finally happened."
And Gentry was right.
Aside from Blake's spectacular play on both ends early in the game, which had given the Suns a huge morale boost, George, Curry, and even Nash struggled for a long stretch afterward.
Their efficiency wasn't just mediocre.
It was poor.
Meanwhile, the Heat Big Three were firing on all cylinders.
And with Curry, Nash, and the others struggling, Miami was able to focus even more defensive attention on Blake.
As a result, Blake's own offensive efficiency was only average.
Part of that was because Blake was deliberately holding back a little to conserve energy, but defensively, he remained as tough as ever.
The problem was that even after Blake fought to get a stop, secured a defensive rebound, or grabbed an offensive board to give his teammates another chance...
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
They kept missing.
Not only were those possessions being wasted without producing points, they were also wasting Blake's energy, and the deficit continued to grow.
Because when it came down to pure overall strength, the Suns simply weren't as good as the Heat.
It was Blake's relentless steals and blocks that disrupted Miami's offense while creating transition opportunities for Phoenix.
That was essentially [defense leading to fast break].
The difference was that the Heat's [defense leading to fast break] came from all three members of the Heat Big Three, while the Suns' came almost entirely from Blake.
Whether it came from three players or one, creating those opportunities was always a good thing.
But when your teammates were struggling and couldn't turn those opportunities into points, it became a serious problem.
They were facing the Heat Big Three, a team that could be considered elite even by the standards of NBA history.
And now, on the stage of Game 6 of the Finals, with the championship slipping away if they lost, the Suns' young players had fallen into a slump.
That could be fatal.
At the end of the first quarter:
Heat 28, Suns 19.
Phoenix trailed by nine after one.
And after what had happened in the previous game, everyone understood what Blake playing this hard on defense meant.
The longer the game went, the worse things would become for the Suns.
So even with three quarters still remaining, a nine-point deficit after the opening period already left Phoenix in a terrible position.
During the break between quarters, George slammed a fist into his thigh.
"Damn it!
"Why does my shot have to disappear today of all days? Why tonight?! This is ridiculous!"
His frustration only made him look more helpless.
Curry was just as upset.
"That was a wide-open three. How did I miss that? What am I doing? What am I thinking?!"
Nash said nothing.
Neither did Blake.
The entire Suns bench was subdued.
That nine-point deficit seemed to weigh on everyone's shoulders, making it hard to breathe.
Of course, the real source of that suffocating pressure was the overwhelmingly powerful Heat Big Three, looming over them like the final villains standing in their way.
Fortunately, Blake's defense was still there.
His offense had been merely average, but he continued to command enormous defensive attention. The "Blake Gravity," Blake's sheer offensive threat, was still very much present.
So even with Curry, George, and the others struggling, the Suns hadn't completely lost their composure.
As long as Blake was there, there was still hope.
Clinging to that final bit of hope, everyone gritted their teeth and kept fighting.
A short while later, the second quarter began.
The reserves took the floor first.
Wade led the Heat's second unit, while Carter led the Suns.
Under normal circumstances, Phoenix's bench couldn't match Miami's.
In other words, the Suns usually lost ground during these rotation minutes.
But tonight, with the team already in serious trouble, Carter stepped up.
He couldn't completely contain "Flash" Wade's offense, but he did everything he could to keep the Suns within striking distance.
Over 3 minutes and 11 seconds of rotation play, Carter managed to keep the deficit at nine, allowing Blake, Curry, and the other starters to get more than an extra minute of rest.
It didn't sound like much.
But under the circumstances, it was already a huge help.
"Beep! Beep!"
Gentry called a timeout and sent the starters back in.
As Carter came off the floor, his teammates greeted him with high-fives and praise.
Then the starters from both teams resumed their battle.
But Curry, Nash, and the others still couldn't find their rhythm offensively.
George continued to struggle on offense, though his defense had steadily improved, allowing him to make things difficult for Bosh.
Meanwhile, Blake's elite defense remained as imposing as ever, putting pressure on the entire Heat offense.
With Blake and George providing two strong defensive anchors, and Frye holding a slight advantage over Haslem around the basket, things seemed to be improving.
But the situation was still far from encouraging.
Curry and Nash were supposed to be major scoring options. With both of them struggling, Blake had to shoulder more of the offensive load.
And that meant facing even more defensive pressure.
Under those circumstances, even when Blake attacked more often, his efficiency wasn't particularly high.
That meant the Suns were getting nowhere in their attempt to close the gap.
Instead, the Heat Big Three kept taking turns scoring.
One possession after another.
Slowly but steadily, the lead continued to grow.
And that was how the first half played out.
The game still felt fiercely contested, but the Suns' mediocre offensive efficiency was obvious.
So was the widening gap on the scoreboard.
By halftime, the Heat had stretched their lead to 18 points.
Phoenix was already trailing 3-2 in the series.
They were on the road.
They were relying almost entirely on one superstar.
And as the game went on, the Suns' key players were only playing worse.
Now they were down 18 at halftime.
Everything about the situation pointed to the same conclusion.
The Suns were in desperate straits.