After today's Lakers Western Conference Final G2 game, the mood of the Lakers can be compared to the previous two rounds against their Warriors and Grizzlies:
You try everything, you try, you even have an advantage, but in the end, your opponent will be in high spirits and take away the victory you think is rightful for you, and leave you no words.
This is the hard power gap.
In the last game, the Lakers lost in the rebound was exploded, and the mana of the teacher was boundless,
This time, they removed Schroder, replaced Vanderbilt, and then used various people to test Mr. Yo in turn, and even used 38-year-old James to position him at one point, dismantling his and Murray's blocking, so that Mr. Joe scored 23 points, 17 boards and 12 assists on 9-of-21 shooting.
If you can do this, you should be able to win.
When the Lakers led 79-76 at the end of the first three quarters, they probably thought the same thing.
Then in the fourth verse, their nightmare begins.
Jamal Murray, who scored only 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting in the first three quarters, stepped up, and he scored 23 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 4-of-5 three-point shooting in this quarter, becoming the hero of this playoff game.
In particular, he was at the most critical stage of the Nuggets' 79-81 trail to chase points, hitting four consecutive shots when blocking Jokic and switching James in front of him, leading the team to a wave of 14-3 and directly reversing the score.
And turning around, LeBron James hit a three-point 0-pointer in the fourth quarter today, and he could only clatter and strike at the moment when he needed to respond the most.
But he also had a hard time to say, starting in the third quarter when Hamm began to put him on a large number of top defenses against Jokic, facing the almost 280-pound, nimble Serbian fat man who was as smart as he was, James used his outstanding defensive performance to show why he was selected to defend the first team five times.
However, the contribution on the defensive end has brought about a rapid loss of physical strength and a dull fire on the offensive end, and today he will have the only fast break dunk seen in his career, and he will make consecutive layups in the final moments.
While he is consuming Jokic, his current physical strength tank is also declining rapidly.
In the end, there is a hard power gap between the Lakers and the Nuggets.
Or rather,
The James-Mei combination, which has always been expected by Lakers fans, is now the peak teacher who can't beat two consecutive MVPs, and his group of brothers.
Today the Lakers have done everything they can,
Instead of starting Hachimura as speculated, they moved the larger Vanderbilt back into the starting lineup to increase forward height and confrontation.
And Hachimura, as a backhand weapon, is still beating the Nuggets' rotation lineup, scoring 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
Rivers scored another 22 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists today, and he and James were the last Lakers players to give up, and his ability to dominate the ball on the offensive end and shoot from the outside (5-of-9) supported the team's perimeter firepower, allowing the team to maintain the Nuggets' outside suppression in at least the first three quarters under the condition that Schroder and Russell were muted one after another.
The Lakers' role players have actually done enough, and today's gap comes from the heads of both teams.
The best is still thick eyebrows, today he continued his playoff "radio" scoring play, 18 points, 14 boards, 4 assists and 4 blocks, although he still covered the sky on the defensive end, but the offensive feel dropped sharply, shooting only 4 of 15.
Although he hit a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, he then missed a more important 3-pointer.
Facing Mr. Yo's opponent, a strong team like the Nuggets, he must be better prepared mentally and physically.
The worst was undoubtedly Russell, who quickly fell silent after scoring six points in the first quarter, shooting just 3 of 8 from the field, scoring 10 points, 3 boards and 5 assists.
As a playmaker who is a projection-oriented defender, if he can't shoot or even dare to shoot on the field, then most of his role is lost. What's more, on the defensive end, he has repeatedly become a breakthrough.
An embarrassing record is:
He has been the worst plus-minus player in two consecutive games (-25, -16), and the Lakers minus 41 points in the series against the Nuggets, and the Lakers lost by a combined 11 points in the two games.
That is, the Lakers outscored the Nuggets by 30 points in their time without him.
The most helpless is of course James, the "postseason Jen" and "full Jen" that Lakers fans cherish have only appeared in G4 against the Grizzlies and G7 against the Warriors.
He has already given everything in this game, and in the third quarter he began to defend, and he also took the ball more actively than in the previous game.
However, compared to the all-powerful, joke-breaking Lakers defense on the other side, even if he is still 23+17+12 even if he is targeted in turn, James now faces the Nuggets, even if he exerts his full strength, he cannot achieve the previous effect.
When Jamesara's three "Big Three" with salaries of nearly 120 million did not play at the level that people expected, don't criticize Schroder, Vanderbilt, Walker, these role players with millions of base salaries.
Today's Lakers are not losing to them.
At 0-2, the Los Angeles Lakers fell into such a situation for the first time in this year's playoffs.
Back at home, they can't afford to go back, whether it's 0-3 or 1-3, which actually heralds the elimination of this year's playoffs.
And judging from today's performance, they still have a chance, but it is difficult and difficult.