On March 15, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and a focus battle in the West began, with the Los Angeles Lakers playing against the New Orleans Pelicans. Since the two sides have the same record, this head-to-head record is likely to determine the final play-off trend, and there is no room for loss for the Lakers and Pelicans.
Originally thought that the game would be tense and anxious but became a unilateral hanging by the Lakers, since the opening whistle, the Lakers did not give the Pelicans any chance, the outside arrow rained down, the maximum point difference even once reached 40 points, although from the middle of the third quarter, the Pelicans awakened and began to chase points continuously, but helplessly the early digging was too big, and the turnaround was weak. In the end, the Lakers defeated the Pelicans 123-108, and the successful meeting with the Pelicans changed to 3:1.
The best player of the game belonged to Lakers interior lineman Anthony Davis, who swept away the decline in the first two games, played 33 minutes, shot 11 of 18, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and made 12 of 13 free throws to efficiently blast 35 points, 17 rebounds and 1 assist. In each section, the thick eyebrows have a strong sense of existence, and they have returned to the state of "God blocking and killing God, Buddha blocking Buddha" in early March. It is worth mentioning that after this game, Davis also set two major records, namely: 1. 30+15 games in the season to 9 games, surpassing the Bucks star Alphabet brother and occupying the first place in the league; 2. Davis became the most players in Lakers history with at least 35 points and 15 rebounds (5) in a single season since O'Neal in 1999-2000.
However, in the course of the game, a heart-wrenching scene occurred, Davis was accidentally hit in the lower abdomen by Pelicans player Nance Jr. during an offensive process in the fourth quarter, and then Davis looked very painful, and then was replaced by a substitute, and many fans were quite worried about whether Davis had strained his groin.
After the game, Davis spoke about the incident in an interview with the media, saying: "I was hit to my intimate parts, and the severe pain did not ease up for a while, but fortunately nothing is fine now. However, the team doctor decided to keep me out of tomorrow's back-to-back game against the Rockets for safety reasons. "It's really good news for the Lakers that Davis is not in the big way, and I hope he can rest at ease and believe that his teammates can bring victory.
In addition to Davis' thrill, there were two more good news after the game. Lakers coach Hamm spoke about James' injury progress in an interview, Hamm said: "Before today's game, James participated in shooting practice and did not feel discomfort after practice, he will be reviewed in a week, and if he is in good condition, he will have strength and confrontation training next week. "Interestingly, James spent a long time autographing for the young fans after the game and was smiling all the time. All indications are that James' foot injury is recovering very well and is not far from returning.
Another good news is that according to the professional algorithm and statistics of the American media "Tankathon", the difficulty of the remaining schedule of the Lakers is the easiest in the league. At present, the Lakers have 13 games left, except for the Suns (2 times) and Clippers (1 time), Timberwolves (1 time), the rest of the teams have a record and comprehensive strength weaker than themselves, including 2 Rockets (first from the bottom in the West) and 1 Magic (third from the bottom in the East). Obviously, the prospects for the Lakers playoffs and playoffs are good, depending on whether they can firmly grasp the initiative.