Garland Morant competed, with the latter dominating the game at key moments; six people scoring in double figures and the Suns lightly taking on the Pelicans; fierce California strangles, and bench raiders for the Lakers.
The Grizzlies went back-to-back in-a-row killing streaks, and Garland was at a disadvantage
After taking the Nets in Brooklyn, the Grizzlies rushed to Cleveland to challenge the Cavaliers. The latter has had a poor record lately, winning the Pacers only once in their last five games, but before the start of this game, the Cavaliers welcomed back their backcourt core , Darius Garland, a potential new star with great potential to enter this year's All-Star, which may change the Cavaliers' decline in this period.
Although the Grizzlies have won five consecutive games, their recent situation is not good enough, the team has a lot of important rotations, including Dillon Blooms, "Sledgehammer" Anderson and others, all of whom can not play because of health agreements, and recently they have officially entered the away devil's journey, which is bound to have a great drain on them.
In addition to the backcourt core of both teams, the players on both sides are very even, and the strength shown throughout the game is also very high. Throughout the game, a total of 11 people from both teams scored in double figures, and the absolute core of both teams performed well in this game.
The most noteworthy is none other than the direct conversation between Garland and Morant. Both are rookies of 2019, one is the fifth pick, the other is the second pick, both led the team to complete the reconstruction in a very fast time, and in the All-Star Game that will start soon, it is estimated that they will have a direct dialogue scene. Garland, who plays at home, relies more on projection, only 6 of the 26 sports battles are shots under the basket, the rest are medium and long-range shots, and his physical talent is not as strong as Morant, so he can only rely on the sense of rhythm and projection to help the team carry output.
Morant is the kind of guy who doesn't stingy and goes straight in, all in the game, with a total of 21 shots, only 3 of which are done outside the paint. His cooperation with Adams is very good, Adams's strong body can block many offensive opportunities for him, and his strong impact can also kill a piece of the sky in his knight's "Forest of Giants".
Paul continued paddling, and a hidden danger of the sun gradually surfaced
Even without watching the game, the Phoenix Suns played the New Orleans Pelicans — the team that finished at the bottom of the West , and there was almost no reason to lose. The first half of the Suns' games were not generally difficult, and many of them played against weak teams, but they were basically undefeated against weak teams, which showed the foundation of their top teams in the league.
The "old cannon" paddled as usual, shooting 11 times in the whole game, with 11 points and 15 assists. In the case that multiple core rotations could not appear, Bridges and Booker acted as offensive sharp knives, scoring 56 points while shooting more than 50% of the shot, and easily drew the opponent 123-110.
The only thing worth worrying fans is the Suns' weak bench strength, especially Cameron Payne's play, which has lost a lot compared to last season. His average score per game is higher than last year, but it is not necessarily related to his strength, just because he has more playing time and more shots, from the shooting rate, his shooting rate this season has dropped by nearly 10 percentage points compared with last season, and the three-point shooting rate has directly dropped by 12 percentage points. Playing against low-level teams like the Pelicans in the regular season, Payne's play may not be as important as that. However, once it is against those top teams, it is very necessary for Payne to stand up and help the two big brothers and share the pressure.
The Lakers fought back in the fourth quarter to win three straight against the Kings
LeBron James failed to play the same shocking game as before, which is also normal, he is already a veteran of 37 years old, although he is not tired, but the heavy task will definitely have a lot of consumption for him. He remains dominant under the basket, conceding only 2 of his 9 shots, yet outside of the paint he made 13 shots and only 3 hits. But at key moments, LeBron was still LeBron, who frequently scored key points for the team, helping the team seal the victory in the final moments, and in the last 6 minutes, James scored a total of 10 points.
Tucker and Howard played an important role in this game, the former in the past game, played very badly, once by the Lakers fans on the shelf of the trade, this game he hit 9 of the 13 shots, the true shooting rate of up to 70%, he reduced the proportion of shots outside, focusing on his physical advantage on the offensive end, achieved good results.
Howard hasn't played in a long time, and this game he used his excellent performance to win opportunities for himself, he kept grabbing rebounds in the Kings' paint and cutting double-digit points, and he was even left on the court in the final moments, which is simply unimaginable for the Lakers this season.