On February 26, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued after the All-Star period, and Los Angeles ushered in a derby. In an interview before the game, Vogel talked about the current situation of the team, vogel believes that although James is very suitable for the position of small-ball center, the Lakers are ready to reactivate Howard because the team has still lost many games recently.
After the starter, Master Huo showed his dominance as soon as he came up, the Opening Lakers mainly relied on Howard to score on the inside, the outside line was grainy, and the Clippers' group of shooters relied on long-range shots to score points. In the second quarter, Kennard's fiery outside touch coupled with defensive counterattacks helped the Clippers quickly establish a double-digit lead, and James stepped forward in time to help the team stop the bleeding. In the third quarter, the Lakers significantly increased their defensive intensity, taking advantage of the Clippers' wave of iron, and their outside feel gradually opened, directly surpassing 6 points. In the last quarter, Kofi stood up to help the Clippers bite the score, the Lakers side of the little Tucker played a heroic, the last moment of the small Mo high difficulty back to help the Clippers to get a 1-point advantage, Anthony did not score, and finally the Clippers narrowly beat the Lakers 105-102,
In this game, James scored a team-high 21 points, in addition to 11 points, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, statistically, James is decent, but from the performance on the court, James has a lot of responsibility for this loss.
James shot only 6 of 18 in this game, and received 6 turnovers, plus-minus is the lowest -4 of the starting Five. That's why Vogel re-activated Howard, James' defense is so bad that it may allow him to stand in the front line and hide his defensive loopholes, if you play the No. 5 position, the Lakers' inner line is like a fake. And considering that James has the aura of the league's first man, facing the Clippers without Leonard and George, and losing to opponents three times in a row this season, it is enough to show that The Dominance of The James is declining.
James has always aspired to be the best in history, often comparing himself to Jordan. At this All-Star Game, James was interviewed by Kenny Smith, and the two talked about the GOAT again in the interview. James said: "From a basketball perspective, the moment we won the first championship in team history for the Cavaliers, I felt like the best basketball player in history that people have ever seen. In terms of details, I can play from the 1st position to the 5th position on the field, and I can also defend from the 1st position to the 5th position. I did do something that no one in the history of the sport has ever been able to accomplish. ”
Apparently, James considers himself already the best player in history. If the cavaliers' script is developed, James can stay in Krylanf to continue his myth, so that the Cavaliers are always in the window of the championship, perhaps he is GOAT. But after joining the Lakers, James not only declined in his own form, but also failed to avoid the fate of making the Lakers the next Heat and Cavaliers, and he was getting farther and farther away from GOAT.
Instead, there is one player who is closer to the "god of basketball" this season, and that is DeRozan. Previously, DeRozan only played very similarly to Jordan, and after joining the Bulls this season, he did not expect the 32-year-old defender to suddenly explode and play an MVP-level performance. And because of repeated team history (Bulls) and league records, This season's DeRozan is almost tied to Jordan.
In the last game against the Eagles, DeRozan had 37 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and with his excellent performance, he blew up 6 miracles. First, DeRozan has scored at least 35 points in 16 single-game appearances this season, the most in the league. Second, DeRozan has 35+ points in eight consecutive games, and in the past eight games, DeRozan has averaged 38.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. Third, DeRozan scored 35+ in eight consecutive games and shot more than 50% of the way, the first person in history. Fourth, since 1980, only Jordan and DeRozan have averaged 35+ points per game with more than 55% shooting in a single month. Fifth, DeRozan scored 35+ points in eight consecutive games, which is also the second in team history, behind Jordan. Sixth, DeRozan is the seventh player in NBA history to score at least 35 points in eight consecutive games.
Compared with James's stealth at the end of this game, what is more convincing is that DeRozan's scores in the fourth quarter of the past 5 games are 16 points, 11 points, 19 points, 12 points, 12 points, and this season has staged a script of kills and quasi-kills.
Finally, with a heartfelt word, the Lakers had a chance to get DeRozan, but the team management was reluctant to give him a 3-year contract, and finally DeRozan joined the Bulls for 3 years and 81.9 million US dollars.