On May 21, Beijing time, the Western Conference final ushered in the G3 competition, and the Lakers played at home against the Nuggets to win the first victory in the series. James arrived at the arena nearly 5 hours early to prepare for the game, after he did so and the Lakers won all the games. Woj exposed the contract extensions of three Lakers players this summer, and Barkley, who has always been known as "poisoned milk", predicted that the Nuggets would win the championship.
The official NBA social media posted a picture of James's training, he practiced free throws, mid-range shots, three-pointers, and finally dunked to end warm-up training. In the Western Conference Final G2 game, James scored 22 points, shooting 9-of-19 from the field and 0-of-6 from three-point range. James was 0-of-10 from three-point range in his first two games in the Western Conference finals, and he desperately needed to get out of his three-point slump.
This is the fifth time James has arrived nearly five hours early for training in this playoffs, all five of which took place at home.
The first time he entered the game at least 5 hours early was in G6 against the Grizzlies, where the Lakers beat the Grizzlies by 40 points. Due to the wide margin of points, James played only 31 minutes that game, shooting 9-of-13 from the field, 2-of-5 from three-point range, and had 22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, and his shooting percentage (69.2%) was the highest so far in the playoffs. Against the G3, G4 and G6 of the Warriors, James also arrived 5 hours early to start practice, and the Lakers all won. The previous four games won a total of 94 points.
According to a Nugget reporter, Jokic's two older brothers will come to Los Angeles to watch the Western Conference G3. The Lakers presented I'm for LA T-shirts to home fans.
Woj reported on the Lakers' Reeves, Hachimura and Russell's contract extensions-
Speaking about Hachimura and Reeves, Woj said: "Both are restricted free agents, and I can't find a reason why the Lakers don't match their contracts. They will definitely match... They have proven that they can play with James and win against current starters. The Lakers will match them to contracts, and they can't let both go. ”
Speaking about Russell, Woj said: "Russell is a bit different, the process will be interesting and I know there have been preliminary discussions between the two sides about a contract extension and I think they will deal with this after the season. This will really show how the Lakers' roster is built, and it is difficult to bring in a third star right now. The more suitable option for the new collective bargaining agreement is to bring in some good players, which the Lakers learned from the trade of Wilson. With new collective bargaining and penalties, there's only so much you can do with the roster, but the Lakers' prospects for this summer are good. ”
Another positive for Lakers fans could be Barkley's prediction. As a frequent predictor of failure, Barkley gave a new prediction, and he was optimistic about the Nuggets winning the championship. Does this count as helping the Lakers?