On May 21, Beijing time, the third game of the Western Final. The Lakers fell into a 0-3 desperate situation, and throughout the game, Murray shot 15 of 29 and 5 of 11 from three-point range, scoring 37 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, breaking the record. The crazier he became, the worse Russell became, who shot 1 of 8 and 1 of 6 from three-point range, had only 3 points and 4 assists, and was dropped in 20 minutes.
The Lakers had no way to back the battle, but they were blasted by the Nuggets in the first quarter. Murray shot 7-of-10 in the quarter, and with Jokic missing a point, the Nuggets led the Lakers by as many as 12 points.
The Lakers narrowed the gap in the second quarter, but they couldn't stop Murray. Murray came back on the court, hit a three-point shot as soon as he came up, and then hit a three-pointer, facing a thick eyebrow, Murray pulled out a three-point and had a complete solution.
Throughout the first half, Murray played 21 minutes, shooting 13 of 20, 4 of 8 from three-point range, cutting 30 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal, brushing up records: 1. Counting the fourth quarter of G2, the total of 53 points in the past 3 quarters, the highest record in the playoffs in the past 25 years. 2. The third player since 1997 to score 30 or more points in the half against the Lakers in the playoffs, the other two being Iverson (30 points in 2001) and Booker (33 points in 2021). 3. In a single series against the Lakers, he cut 30+ in three consecutive games, becoming the fifth person in history. 4. The fourth player in the playoffs this season to cut 30+ in the half, the previous three players are: Booker, Curry and Butler.
The stronger Murray is, the worse a person is, and he is Russell, the Lakers' starting point guard. Before this life-and-death battle, the call to remove Russell was quite high. The data also supports this, with the Lakers having a plus-minus of -41 in the previous two Western Conference finals with Russell; And when Russell wasn't there, the Lakers had a plus/minus of +30.
In this life and death G3, when Reeves and Russell were on the same court, the Lakers lost by 12 points, and when Reeves was on the floor and Russell was not, the Lakers won by 9 points.
However, Russell continued to start in the second half. Jamie's famous mouth Sharp continued to express his dissatisfaction, "Why did Russell and Vanderbilt start in the second half? "They kept passing the ball to Russell, but he kept playing iron." Unable to help it, Sharp continued to sputter, "This is Hamm's responsibility." Russell beat like, but Hamm kept him on the court. These criticisms are his own doing, his stupid coaching. Perkins also said rudely, "XX quickly replaced Russell." ”
Hamm finally admitted his mistake, and in the decisive moment, he abandoned Russell, but the Nuggets went on a 13-0 run to open a 12-point gap, Murray hit a layup, and with less than 3 minutes left, the Nuggets still led by 12 points. In the end, the Nuggets had the last laugh and led 3-0.