James was absent, and the "Weimei Combination" led the Lakers to defeat the Nuggets and suffered six consecutive defeats! Embiid slashed 44+17, 76ers reversed the Cavaliers to lock up the playoffs early! The whole team blossomed at multiple points, and the Warriors defeated the Kings to win two consecutive games.
James is out! Wei Mei slashed 55 points to save the Savior
The Lakers had suffered five straight losses prior to this game, and after losing to the Pelicans in the previous game, they had fallen to 11th place in the West. In such a situation, if the Lakers continue to lose this game, then the gap between them and the Tenth Spurs in the West will be getting bigger and bigger, and it will become more and more difficult to reach the playoffs. To make matters worse, James will also miss the game with an ankle injury.
In the first quarter of the game, the Lakers, who changed the starting lineup, took the lead and ended the first quarter with a 28:24 lead. In the second quarter, although the Lakers did not reduce their offensive attack in this quarter, they were completely unable to limit the Nuggets' offense at the defensive end, allowing the opponent to score 38 points in a single quarter. In the third quarter, the Lakers rebounded with a 15-5 climax in the opening stage to regain the lead, and the two sides began to fall into a tug-of-war. In the final quarter, the two sides were difficult to score in the first half, but as the Nuggets played a 13:2 offensive climax in the middle, the point difference was widened to double digits, and the Lakers finally lost to the opponent 118:129.
Due to James's absence in this game, Westbrook and Davis naturally became the absolute core of the Lakers, and in the end, the two also played a performance that satisfied the fans. Among them, the former shot 11 of 15 in this campaign, with super offensive efficiency, cut a quasi-triple-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. This campaign is only the latter's second game after his return, he cut a comprehensive stat of 28 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks on 11-of-25 shooting. Although the Lakers played well on the offensive end of this campaign, their poor performance on the defensive end led to a small climax by the opponent in the final quarter, and eventually lost the game.
After this game, the Lakers have suffered a full six straight losses, which is also their longest losing streak so far this season. After the Spurs won the Blazers, their win gap with the top ten in the West has been widened to two wins. In the next game, they will also face strong teams such as the Suns and Warriors, and James is likely to continue to be absent. In short, the probability of the Lakers making the playoffs has become smaller and smaller.
Embiid Twice! The 76ers locked up the playoffs early
Prior to this game, the 76ers were actually not in good shape, with just 1 win and 3 losses in their last four games, including a loss to the Pistons, who ranked to the bottom of the East. Among them, Harden's sluggish performance in scoring is an important reason, and in recent games, Harden has shot less than 40% of the shots in many games. Their opponents are the Cavaliers, who are also in the top eight in the East, and if the 76ers can win this campaign, they will lock up a place in the playoffs in advance.
In the first quarter of the game, the Cavaliers, who were sitting at home, played a 10-0 climax at multiple points, and soon the 76ers began to fight back, and the two sides played hard in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Cavaliers were still in hot form with a 14-2 climax, once achieving a double-digit lead, and still leading by 6 points at halftime. Yi Bian fought again, with the threat of the Diden combination, the 76ers flattened the point difference, the two sides fell into a tug-of-war again, and the 76ers overtook 1 point in the third quarter. In the final quarter, the two sides still played back and forth, and in the decisive moment, the consecutive points of Harden and Sebel helped the team finally win 112:108.
The biggest contributor to the 76ers' win in this game is undoubtedly Embiid, who still performed well, after cutting a large double-double in six consecutive games, Embiid shot 12 of 26 in the game, including 3 of 6 three-pointers, cut the horror data of 44 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks, and personally cut 13 points and 5 rebounds in the final quarter, almost single-handedly breaking the Cavaliers' interior line. Although Harden's offensive efficiency is still not ideal, only 4 of 13 shots in the whole game, and only 7 of 2 three-pointers, he has achieved a triple-double of 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists by hitting 11 free throws, and at the critical moment, he used free throws to help the team kill the game.
Although the 76ers still ranked fourth in the East even with the Bucks and Celtics winning, they locked up a playoff spot early with this victory. With none of the top four wins in the East, the 76ers still have a good chance of getting a better ranking if they can stay in their current form.
The whole team blossoms more! The Warriors beat the Kings to win two straight
After defeating the Jazz in the final quarter of the last game, the Warriors will take on the Kings on the road in this game. While the Kings are only the 12th weakest team in the West, with Thompson and Porter on their rotation, the rest of the Warriors' players must play well to help the team fight for this hard-won two-game winning streak.
In the first quarter of the game, the Warriors had a big explosion in terms of outside projection, hitting seven consecutive three-pointers to blast an offensive climax of 27:12, while the Kings only scored 14 points in this quarter. In the second quarter, although the Kings' state has picked up, they still can't stop the Warriors' crazy offense. At halftime, the Warriors had established a 20-point lead. The Kings began to fight back in the third quarter, but the Warriors still entered the final quarter with a 14-point difference. In the final quarter, although the Kings were in a heroic state in the first half, once chasing the point difference to 9 points, the Warriors once again pulled the point difference apart and won 109:90.
One of the things that delighted Warriors fans in this game was undoubtedly the return of Wiggins' form, which was full of 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists on 8-of-16 shooting in the previous games. In addition to this, Poole and Bjelica scored 22 and 19 points respectively. After winning the game, the Warriors finally won two straight, the first time they have won two straight since Curry was injured.