At 9 a.m. Beijing time on May 5, the Western Conference semifinals will continue, and the Lakers will play the Warriors again. James and Bushy will try to win another game, rewriting the aggregate score to 2-0. Will the warriors repeat the episode of the first round against the king? They had lost both of their first two games.
With a dominant performance with thick eyebrows, the Lakers defeated the Warriors 117-112 and went first. This is also reminiscent of the Lakers' first-round G1 against the Grizzlies, when the Lakers, who were also playing on the road, also won the victory, with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocks.
One of the things Bushy didn't do against the Grizzlies G1 was play 44 minutes. Against the Warriors G1, Thick Brow played for 44 minutes, including the full 24 minutes in the last two quarters. Lakers coach Hamm explained that the strategy stemmed from the fact that Thick Eyebrow played only 56 games in the regular season and averaged only 34 minutes per game.
"That's what load management is all about," Hamm said, "and we have to manage their load during the regular season to get them to play a little bit more time at this time of year." In the playoffs, everything peaks and you have to reduce rotation and push your stars to be on the court earlier and more often. ”
Thick eyebrows made full use of those 44 minutes, scoring 30 points, 23 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks. James, 38, also played 40 minutes, scoring 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
The Lakers sent 10 blocks from all over the game, effectively limiting the Warriors' impact on the basket. Of the Warriors' 106 shots in the game, exactly half (53) came from outside the three-point line. The Warriors shot 21 of 53 from three-point range, 39.6 percent, but they rarely made it to the free throw line, only 5 of 6, while the Lakers, who were more aggressive insiders, had 29 free throw opportunities and hit 25 of them.
While Warriors fans were talking about the huge difference at 29-6, Warriors coach Kerr had accepted reality.
"They're going to make more free throws than we do," Cole admitted, "and I think they're number one in the league [free throws] and we're last or second from last." So it's not surprising, it's just that the gap is too big this one and we need to close it a bit. ”
The final tiebreaker of the game, on a three-pointer. Poole missed a long-range three-pointer with 9.7 seconds left in the game, when the Warriors trailed the Lakers by three points. Poole was the Warriors' G1's most accurate three-point shooter, and before he missed the three-pointer, he was 6-of-10 from the outside, Curry was 6-of-13 and Thompson was 6-of-16.
The scene was reminiscent of the G1 game against the Kings in the first round, where Wiggins also missed a crucial 3-pointer, and the Warriors lost the game 123-126. The Warriors also lost the second game of the series against the Kings, but won four of the next five games to eliminate the Kings 4-3 to advance.
The data shows that in the NBA's 7-game 4-win series, the last 15 times the away team led 1-0, all of which were tied 1-1! The Lakers are currently leading 1-0 on the road, G2, will they also be equalized by the Warriors?