On March 19, Beijing time, in an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Lakers defeated the Raptors 128-123 on the road, avenging the arrow of revenge for being hung by the other side a few days ago. With this victory, the Lakers not only ended a 3-game losing streak, but also ended the embarrassing record of 11 consecutive away defeats, and their last away win dated back to January 26, Beijing time, when they defeated the Nets away.
From the process point of view, the Lakers won this game is not easy, but what makes people feel happy is the Lakers players in the final moments of hard work, in order to win, James in the fourth quarter of the wild 16 points, the whole game 44 minutes, 26 shots 15, including 7 three-pointers 7 shots 2, free throws 7 shots 4, 36 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks. Westbrook finally hit a bleeding, shooting 8-of-18 from the field, having 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and completed a key steal at the end of the fourth quarter and hit a three-pointer worth thousands of dollars to help the Lakers drag the game into overtime.
There is no doubt that in this game, James and Wei Shao finally played the style that the big two giants should have, and they both showed their due performances when the team needed them most. The victory in this game also gave Lakers coach Vogel renewed confidence, saying bluntly after the game: "We haven't given up this season yet, I love the players to continue to fight." ”
Of course, it must be admitted that if the Lakers want to win the playoffs this season and enter the playoffs, it is not enough to rely on James and Westbrook, they need more players to stand up and show tough performances. The good news is that they have now unlocked a new tough guy player to help the team, and that is new signings Viñen Gabriel.
Throughout the game, Vernion Gabriel played 25 minutes, 7-of-8 shooting, had 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block, and speaking about his performance, Vogel praised: "He is like a breath of fresh air, his technique is very compelling, his performance continues to be impressive, he played a wonderful game today." ”
Perhaps many people will continue to praise Westbrook's key three-pointers after this game, but in fact, at the end of this game, Weinyon's contribution is not at all lost to James and Westbrook, especially his 3 defenses can be said to directly save the Lakers.
First of all, before Westbrook completed the steal, it was The wallets of Venion and James that caused the Raptors to panic and failed to notice Westbrook who was planning to steal behind him. Second, after Westbrook hit the key three points, the Raptors actually wanted to send a sideline ball through a timeout, although it looked like it was finally destroyed by Westbrook in the penalty area, but it should be noted that this ball Vernion did a very good job of serving interference on the sideline, using his height arm span so that the Raptors could not pass the ball well.
That is to say, Vernion's final 2 key defenses in the fourth quarter, once helping Westbrook complete the steals and counter-attacking three-pointers, and the other also blocking the Raptors' plan to kill. Not only that, but in the final stages of overtime, Vernion blocked VanVleet's layup through a key block, helping the Lakers maintain a four-point lead and leaving only 2.8 seconds for the Raptors to basically lock in the win.
As Vogel said, The arrival of Wernion has injected new vitality and defensive enthusiasm into the Lakers, especially his energy and positivity on the defensive end, which makes up for the lack of the Lakers' defensive talent, and I believe that in the next game, he will get more opportunities, and even a key figure who affects whether the Lakers can enter the playoffs.