The Lakers 4 was the last laugh on the Warriors, who beat the Lakers 134-120 to win the crucial play-off ranking battle. The current ranking in the West is still the ninth of the Lakers and the tenth of the Warriors, but after 5 days, it is likely to become the eighth of the Warriors and the tenth of the Lakers.
One thought of heaven and one thought of hell.
Davis's absence has slightly reduced the value of the Warriors' win, but the content of this game is the full embodiment of the Warriors' "want and want" at the beginning of the season.
One, the state of the veterans is back. Tang Shen shot 10-of-16 from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point range to score 27 points. Curry made just nine shots and scored 23 points. Even Green found his long-lost touch, shooting 5-of-7 from beyond the three-point line. In the whole game, the Warriors made 41 three-pointers and hit 26, and the 26 three-pointers made in a single game was a new high for the Warriors this season, while 41 three-pointers were shot, with a shooting rate of 63.4%, which is unique in the NBA.
Even Paul went crazy, hitting a three-pointer in addition to nine assists.
Two, young people work. Starting Jackson Davis had seven points, seven rebounds, and three blocks, and stabilized his position in the face of the Lakers' inside attack. Podzemski came off the bench and scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes.
Three, the small lineup doesn't have to worry about the front line. The Warriors have had ups and downs throughout the season, and one reason is that Wiggins has been slow to get into form, and the end of the season has shown that he has returned to form, and Kuminga's performance has been more critical during consecutive absences, and today Wiggins showed great desire on both offensive and defensive ends, scoring 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting and dishing out three blocks.
Half a month ago, the Warriors were teetering in the 10th place in the West, and the Rockets' 11-game winning streak has pushed them into a corner. But the Warriors decided to take fate by the throat and they completely destroyed the Rockets' hopes with a wave of six straight wins, winning seven of their eight games before beating the Lakers.
The last time they played the Lakers in the regular season, the Warriors suddenly found that they had the hope of entering the top eight in the West, and at the same time, they could kick the Lakers to the tenth place in the West, and there was no need to start the "Lake Warriors 5".
Now, sixth to tenth in the West, with only a three-game ball gap, the suspense of the fight for eight is greater than ever.
The Pelicans are sixth in the West, 47-32, and will play the Kings, Warriors, and Lakers next;
The Suns are seventh in the West, 46-33, and will play the Clippers, Kings, and Timberwolves next;
The Kings are eighth in the West, 45-34, and next up are the Pelicans, Suns, and Trail Blazers;
The Lakers are ninth in the West, 45-35, and next play the Grizzlies and Pelicans;
The Warriors are 10th in the West, 44-35, and will play the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, and Jazz next.
We could see the ultimate combo. The Pelicans lost three in a row with 47 wins, the Kings won against the Pelicans and Trail Blazers but lost to the Suns with 47 wins, and the Suns lost to the Clippers and Kings and the Timberwolves with 47 wins. This leads to the Suns, Warriors, and Pelicans all have 47 wins, and if the Lakers can beat the Grizzlies, they will also have 47 wins.
So who will be the winner?
According to the rules, multiple teams have the same record, and because there is no division champion, the teams involved with the best record are ranked high. The winner is the Suns, who have a 10-7 overall record against the other four teams and are sixth in the West, followed by the Warriors at 8-7 and seventh in the West, and then down the Kings at 9-9 and the Pelicans at 7-8, with the Lakers at 7-10 in tenth place.
For the Lakers, even without such a streak, losing to the Warriors means they are out.
The Lakers still have two games left, even if they win all of them, they only have 47 wins, but the biggest problem for the Lakers is that they don't take advantage of their rivals, playing the Kings 0-4, playing the Warriors 1-3; if they can beat the Pelicans in the last game, the two sides are 2-2, because they are not in the same division, they will have a better record than the Western teams, the Lakers are not as good as the Pelicans; only 3-2 with the Suns, barely holding a slight advantage.
Therefore, there is only one possibility for the Lakers to enter the top eight in the West, the Pelicans beat the Kings and the Warriors, but the last game was won by the Lakers, the Pelicans won 48 wins, sixth in the West, the Suns beat the Kings and lost to the Clippers and the Timberwolves, 47 wins, the same as the Lakers, the Kings must lose to the Pelicans and the Suns, up to 46 wins, and the Warriors must lose at least to the Pelicans and win 46 in the end.
As a result, the Lakers and Suns are tied at 47 wins, and the Lakers are in seventh place. The Suns are eighth, with the Kings and Warriors in 9 through 10 spots, respectively.
It's too difficult, it's more unreliable than a five-team set.
If the Warriors end up with a three-game winning streak and a 47-35 record, they are much more likely to finish in the top eight than the Lakers would be able to walk the single-plank bridge. Even if there is no such coincidence, the Warriors have the possibility of finishing seventh in the West, as long as the Suns have lost three straight games and won 46 wins, and the Kings have only won against the Suns and lost to the Pelicans and Trail Blazers with 46 wins. With at least 48 wins, the Pelicans are sixth in the West, while the Warriors have 47 wins, and the Lakers are seventh in the West, regardless of whether the Lakers have won streak or not.
Even if the Warriors finally beat the Pelicans, the two sides are 2-2 in the regular season, and because they are not in the same division, the Pelicans have 28 wins, while the Warriors only have 24 wins, and there are only three games left, and they can't catch up.
If they don't finish seventh in the West, the probability of the Warriors getting eighth in the West is also very high, and there are three possibilities.
One, the Warriors are eighth, the Suns are ninth, and the Suns need to lose in a row, and the Warriors have 47 wins over the Suns' 46 wins;
Second, the Warriors are eighth, the Pelicans are ninth, and the Pelicans need to lose in a row, and the two sides have a 2-1 Pelicans in the regular season, with the same record as the Warriors in front;
Three, the Warriors eighth, the Kings ninth, need the Kings to lose at least two more of their next three games, with only 46 wins.
Of course, all the optimistic outlook comes with a premise, and the Warriors have to win three in a row.
The Warriors once thought that the top 10 position in the West was secure, but a wave of impact from the Rockets made them feel a lot of pressure. Instead of waiting for the Rockets to lose, the Warriors chose to be themselves. Even after the Rockets were reversed by the Mavericks and completely lost the suspense of the play-offs, the Warriors still beat the Jazz steadily, and did not begin to relax because they kept the tenth place in the West, which also laid the groundwork for them to defeat the Lakers and impact the top eight in the West.
The Lakers are missing a bit of luck.
In the past month, the Lakers have dominated the Warriors in the rankings, and until the last game against the Timberwolves, they had a hope of fighting for the top six. But this season's Lakers are like walking in a dark tunnel, every time they find a light in front of them, but at the moment when they get closer and closer and hope comes, the lights go out.
Playing the Timberwolves, James was absent because of the flu, Davis was hit in the eye in the first quarter, and he never played again after returning to the locker room.
Playing the Warriors, if they win, the Lakers can still fight for eight, win one game in the play-offs and fight for seventh, and lose one game to fight for eighth, which is equivalent to an extra layer of resurrection armor. But once again, they felt the cruelty of fate, Davis came to the arena, but he couldn't play because of a headache, James didn't rush to the arena until 1 hour before the game, he tried his best, but the Lakers still lost.
Regardless of the final outcome, at least in the regular season, the Lakers are already losers, they are likely to finish tenth, there is no home-court advantage in the play-offs, and it is unknown whether they can win two games in a row to enter the playoffs. What's worse is that if they want to break out of the play-offs, there is a high probability that they will meet the Kings, either the first game or the second game, Davis faces Sabonis, can they win once?
Even if they pass the King's hurdle, the Lakers end up eighth in the West, and according to the current ranking, they will meet the Nuggets, who were swept by their opponents in the Western Conference finals last season. If they meet again this time, can the Lakers create the Black Eight Miracle?
Some cry, some laugh, some lose, and some get old.