Prior to this game, the Lakers had suffered a full four straight losses, and in the last game, without James, the Lakers lost to the Jazz, and this time they will challenge their key competitors in the playoffs back-to-back to challenge their playoff spot, the Pelicans, because the Spurs behind them have been getting closer and closer, so the losing side of this game will fall directly to 11th in the West. In this game, davis, the lakers' interior core, will usher in a comeback, and the "360 combination" will usher in the usual combat after a few months. All in all, it's a game that both sides can't afford to lose.
In the first quarter of the game, the Pelicans on the road took the lead in finding the status of the counter-attacker, ending the first quarter with a five-point lead. In the second quarter, the two sides were caught in a tug-of-war, and the Lakers, led by James, tied the score at the end of the quarter. Easy side to fight again, in the third quarter of the game the two sides are still playing difficult to score, the third quarter of the battle, the difference between the two sides is only a slight 1 point. In the final quarter, although the Lakers relied on Wei Shao's consecutive scores in the first half to maintain a 5-point lead, but after the mid-section of the game suddenly changed, the outbreak of Varan and McCollum helped the Pelicans play a 13:4 small climax to surpass the score, and with James's three-point miss in the last minute, the Lakers finally lost to the Pelicans 111:114.
This campaign is the Lakers' "360 combination" after a few months to play together again, although the team eventually lost, but from the data point of view, the performance of the three is not bad. Among them, James played 40 minutes in this game, shooting 13 of 23, including 8 of 3 three-pointers, in addition to scoring a game-high 38 points on 9 of 12 free throws, in addition to 8 rebounds and 4 assists. And Davis, who has just returned, faced the old home from 8 of 17 shots, including 2 of 2 three-pointers, and cut a quasi-triple-double of 23 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, and although Westbrook only had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, 10 of them came from the key final quarter.
Although it looks good in terms of statistics, the Lakers' loss in this game has a great connection with the two cores of James Davis. According to statistics, in the last 5 minutes of this campaign, the two cores made a total of 6 shots, but only hit 1 goal, Davis got 2 free throw opportunities, but there were two missed shots, and only 6 points were scored. Among them, James has scored 36 points in the first three quarters of the game, and he played 7 minutes in the final quarter, scoring only 2 points and 3 assists on 1 of 4 shooting.
In the final 9.4 seconds, the Lakers were only three points behind the Pelicans, and they also had the opportunity to make the final attack, and when the ball was sent, the Lakers gave James the opportunity to shoot three-pointers. James actually got a very good shot after taking the ball around the block to remove the three-point line, but he did not choose to shoot at the first time, but drifted back after continuous shaking, facing the defense of two people before rushing to shoot. When the ball was shot, the game time had run out, and James's absolute goal this time also threw an embarrassing three-not-stick. With the first three quarters of the game being super-performing, James in the final quarter was clearly affected by physical weakness.
Although Davis, who has just returned from this campaign, has a large double-double stat of 23 points and 12 rebounds, as the core of the team, his performance in the last quarter of this campaign is also unqualified. With 19 points already scored in the first three quarters, Davis made just 1-of-5 shooting in the final quarter of the game, and only got 4 points and 3 rebounds. At key moments, Davis not only failed to score when he received the ball near the free throw line, but also failed to score two penalties after causing a foul. It was these two key rounds that became the key factor in the Lakers' final regretful loss.
The most outstanding player in the lakers in the fourth quarter of the game is Wei Shao, in this game, Wei Shao only scored 2 points in the first three quarters of the game, he and the first half of the first half of the final quarter ushered in a brief outbreak. After a three-point shot and a three-point shot, Wei Shao seemed to be opened up to the second pulse of Ren Dou, hitting two three-pointers in a row, completely igniting the atmosphere of the Lakers' home fans, while also helping the team further widen the point difference. In addition to the three-point shot on the outside, Westbrook also continued to impact the basket, completing two wonderful breakthroughs with the two teams' point differences extremely close.
However, in the final moments, Wei Shao was not able to stand up to save the team, and apart from being capped by his opponents during the breakthrough, he did not actually get much ball in the last few minutes. In short, although Wei Shao scored 10 points in the final quarter, he could not save the team from losing. Throughout this season, in fact, many games the Lakers have lost at key moments, according to statistics, in the past five Games lakers have suffered five consecutive losses, they have a total of 18 shots in key moments, shooting 22%; three points total 9 shots 1, three points shooting 11%; free throw total 2 shots 0, free throw shooting rate of 0%.
It is precisely because of the poor performance at key moments that the Lakers have encountered the opponent's reversal in the final quarter many times this season, and the reason why they are always unable to score at key moments is inseparable from the following points. First of all, the Lakers' aging lineup makes them often prone to physical weakness in the final quarter of the game, of which James' performance is the best example. In many games, when James tried his best in the first three quarters, he often had moments in the final quarter when he could not hit the key ball due to physical reasons.
Secondly, the two cores of Davis and Westbrook have also performed extremely badly in key goals this season. Although both were once the league's top ten superstars, this season, either due to age or injury, neither has performed particularly well in key moments of the season. In addition, even Anthony, who is known for his big heart in his career, has performed very badly in key moments this season, which has led to the Lakers being able to only give the ball to James at key moments in many games, and the opponent has also taken an extremely strict defense against him, which has led to James being able to barely shoot key balls in many cases.
In short, the poor performance at key moments has become an important reason for the Lakers' unsatisfactory record this season. After the loss of this game, the Lakers have been completed by the Spurs to fall to 11th place in the West, and the Lakers' playoff situation this season has become less and less optimistic with few games left in the regular season and a difficult schedule.