On the penultimate matchday of the regular season, the most wasted brain cell slot battle in recent years arrived.
The Lakers and Clippers, the sworn enemies of the same city, fatefully became the protagonists of this big drama. In the eyes of the fans, this is a game that should be won and should not be won.
The team that wins this game will most likely become fifth in the West, and they will have a better chance of directly locking to the playoffs, but at the cost of a first-round game against the Suns, the West's most fearsome opponents, with Durant, Booker, Paul and Ayton.
The team that loses this game can avoid the Suns in the first round, but there is a high probability that they will play the play-offs, and in a brutal format, they may not qualify for the playoffs.
In this embarrassment of winning or losing, the fateful showdown begins.
Unlike the fans' hesitation, neither the Lakers nor the Clippers showed fear of the fifth position in the West, but instead went all out to win.
The Lakers just finished overtime yesterday, James and Thick Brow continued to play, and Russell also returned to face the Clippers in full posture.
The Clippers also used a big move, not talking about martial virtue's turn to rest little Morris. In addition, Lu coached the game once released a smoke bomb before the game and said that he would not pinch the thick eyebrows, and would let Zubac single prevent thick eyebrows, but when it came to the game, he directly let the small card single prevent thick eyebrows, and Tu Qiong Dagger saw that it belonged.
After the start of the game, the two sides did not relax in the slightest, the Clippers took the lead after a three-day break, and the slightly tired Lakers did not give up when they fell behind by a big score, chasing the difference to single digits many times.
In the first half, James looked ten years older and played badly, shooting 1-of-6 with 3 points and 3 assists, with 4 turnovers and an outrageous plus-minus of -25.
At the end of the first half, the Lakers were trailing by 19 points, and even so, the Lakers didn't give up.
In the third quarter, James hit consecutive three-pointers and scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in a single quarter, bringing back the suspense of the game.
Throughout the second half, James only took a break of 3 minutes, shooting 12-of-14, 4-of-5 three-pointers, and scoring 30 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. For a 38-year-old comrade, it can really be said that he fought hard.
Helplessly, the Clippers became more powerful, and Powell and Hyland on the bench became surprise soldiers that made the Lakers difficult to overcome, and finally the Clippers won this key victory.
Leonard played 42 minutes and 56 seconds, setting a record for the most minutes of time played without overtime this season.
At the same time, he played the full 24 minutes in the second half, the first time he played the second half of the game since the 2013 finals tie-out, when he was only 21 years old.
This game, the reason why the Clippers had to win again, they are more afraid to play the playoffs than against the Suns in the first round.
The play-offs are too uncertain to play a life-and-death horror format, and the Clippers finished eighth in the regular season last season, and then lost to the Timberwolves and Pelicans in succession in the playoffs, and finally missed the playoffs.
Since the regular season was swept by the Pelicans, if the Clippers lose today's game, they will be directly overtaken by the Lakers and Pelicans and fall to the eighth position in the West.
The Clippers won the game, putting them back in fifth place in the West and in the best position to compete for a playoff spot.
Currently ranked fifth for the Clippers, sixth for the Warriors, seventh for the Lakers and eighth for the Pelicans, the Clippers have a winning advantage over both the Warriors and Lakers, and have the most initiative among several teams.
As long as the Clippers can win both of their last two games, they will be sure to secure a playoff spot, and there is even a theoretical possibility of fourth (the Suns have lost all three of their next three games).
The Clippers' last two games were against the Blazers and Suns, and the Blazers needless to say, had already taken turns to rest the main force. Even if they lose the game against the Suns, the Clippers could still finish fifth with a head-to-head advantage.
The Lakers fell into a passive situation after losing the game.
They still have the possibility of making the playoffs directly, but that possibility is in the hands of their opponents. They currently have the same record as the Pelicans, one win behind the Clippers and Warriors.
If you want to go straight to the playoffs, you must have a better or equal record in the last two games than the Pelicans, and you must win one more game than the Warriors or two more than the Clippers.
If the Lakers lose both of their last two games, there is no chance of qualifying directly to the playoffs, and they may fall to ninth place in the West.
The Lakers' last two games are against the Suns and Jazz, who have a feud with the Lakers and are currently practicing the lineup, and they may not kill the Lakers, but they will not give up directly.
If the Lakers want to make the playoffs, they still have to rely on themselves.
The Warriors are temporarily in sixth place in the West, a result they've always wanted, so they will have a good chance of facing the young Kings in the first round of the playoffs.
But, like several other teammates, their rankings are not solid. The most direct way for the Warriors to lock up sixth is for the Clippers and Warriors to win two straight games, but the Warriors are not as easy as they think.
The Warriors' last two games are against the Kings and Blazers, and both are on the road, and the Warriors know everything about the road this season.
The Kings are still theoretically second in the West, and as long as they win the last two games against the Warriors and Nuggets, and the Grizzlies lose the last two (Bucks and Thunder), they can overtake the Grizzlies to move up to second place in the West.
The Kings don't seem to have any plans to rest at the moment, and with a possible first-round playoff opponent, the young Kings will most likely not pass up the opportunity to play early.
Wiggins has returned but will not play in the last two games, and the Warriors will have to rely on splash tea to win.
The Pelicans are currently the biggest spoiler in the West.
They still have a chance to go straight to fifth place in the West, and the Pelicans' form has been excellent overall, with three players cutting 30+ today to pass overtime against the Grizzlies, second in the West.
The Pelicans' final two games are against the Knicks and the Timberwolves, who have locked up fifth in the East and began to rotate their players.
Facing the Timberwolves in the final game is a top priority, and the Timberwolves are currently only one win behind the Pelicans, and if the Pelicans lose such a game, they may fall to ninth place in the West.
With the final four days of the regular season remaining, the chaos in the West is far from settled, and even more intense.
With the exception of the Nuggets, who locked up first place in the West, the other teams couldn't determine their place until the last minute. The 10th-place Thunder and Eleventh-place Mavericks currently have the same record, and the Eastern European combination still has a glimmer of life.
Ranked battles, it's so good-looking!