On the morning of April 19, Beijing time, the NBA Western Playoffs played another game. Although the core figure of the Lone Rangers, Luka Doncic, is still absent, But Jalen Brunson stepped forward, attacked and organized the defense to grab a hand, scored 41 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, and led the team to a 110-104 home victory, pulling the series to a 1-1 draw.
In both the East and the West, the fourth-place playoff first-round series in the regular season against fifth is often considered to be the closest and most suspenseful contest due to the similar strengths of the two sides. The regular season Lone Rangers and Jazz are ranked fourth and fifth in the West, and it seems that the Lone Rangers are ranked higher, but because of Doncic's calf strain, it is likely that they will not be able to play in the entire playoffs, and the team's competitiveness has dropped by a notch. Sure enough, in the first game, they were pulled off the horse by the Jazz, which was still a home battle, the promotion situation took a sharp turn, and the second game at home could not be lost.
Fortunately, the Lone Ranger also has Doncic's stand-in Jaren Brunson, the 25-year-old has played a very bright stat in this game, and can even be called the highest game of his career, and 41 points have also set a new playoff scoring record. Shortly after the start of the fourth quarter, the Jazz were seven points ahead, and seeing that the team had shown defeat, Brunson stepped forward to save the team. He threw four consecutive throws, led the team to bite the score, and made 3 of 4 free throws at key moments to ensure that the team stabilized the lead after the score was reversed. The whole team found a shooting sensation in the decider season led by Brunson, and their shooting percentage was as high as 61.1% in this quarter, and they eventually won by a six-point advantage. As one of the shorter players on the team, Brunson also grabbed eight rebounds to rank first in the team, making a decisive contribution on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.
Jazz's Mitchell scored 34 points and center Gobert grabbed 17 rebounds, but to no avail. However, due to their first win, the 1-1 score is not a loss, because the next two games to return to their home stadium, is equivalent to regaining a home advantage, in the case of the lone ranger Doncic is still unable to play, the promotion of the Jazz in this series is optimistic.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin