On April 13, Beijing time, the NBA regular season entered the final stage, and there were only two last game days left in the 23-24 season, and the rankings of the East and West were gradually clear. The competition in the Western Conference play-off region is still particularly fierce, the Pelicans are temporarily in sixth place, one win ahead of the Suns, and then they will face the Warriors and Lakers, if nothing happens, they have a very good chance of finishing sixth in the West, and the Suns are in seventh place, two more than the three playoff teams behind them, the Kings, The Lakers and Warriors have the same record, but the Kings are in eighth place and will have to play the Suns and Trail Blazers in the future, the Warriors are ninth and will face the Pelicans and Jazz in the future, and the Lakers are in tenth place and will face the Grizzlies and Pelicans in the future.
For the Lakers, the conditions for a top-eight finish can be tough: they need not only the Warriors to lose to the Pelicans, the Suns to beat the Kings, but also to beat the Pelicans in the final game. Such an outcome would mean that the Kings would voluntarily cede the top-eight spots, while the Pelicans would cede the sixth-place spot to the Suns. Other than that, there is little else for the Lakers to make it into the top eight. Conversely, if the Warriors beat the Pelicans today and the Kings beat the Suns today, the Lakers would still be in 10th place even if they win the final game. Regardless, against the Grizzlies today, the Lakers still have no choice but to get two wins and wait for his other teams to make mistakes. In this game, the thick eyebrows returned, the Lakers fought with all the main forces, and the Grizzlies, who had a record of only 27 wins and 53 losses, sent a third team to participate today, and 13 main rotation players were unable to play due to injuries. However, the Grizzlies are a group of young people, and they are also the league's most unsympathetic and unrelated team, and the Lakers need to be cautious!
At the beginning of the game, the Lakers faced the three-line Lakers, but did not show a one-sided absolute advantage, but fell into a fierce confrontation with the Grizzlies, and the score on the court alternately led. Towards the end of the first quarter, the Lakers gradually took the initiative on the court and managed to establish a certain advantage. Entering the second quarter, although the margin widened to double digits at one point, the Grizzlies' young players were not easy to let go, and they launched a fierce counterattack, scoring 38 points in a single quarter, and narrowing the gap to just four points at halftime. In the second half of the game, the Grizzlies' offensive momentum continued unabated, and they managed to overtake the score with their strong offensive firepower. Subsequently, the two teams fell into a stalemate again, the score rose alternately, and the game entered a white-hot stage.
In the final quarter of the game, the Grizzlies always clung to the score and did not give up any chance to chase points, and the suspense of the game lasted until the last moment. At the critical moment, the referee also stood up to steal the show, the Lakers players repeatedly stood on the free throw line, and got 13 free throws in the final quarter. In the end, the Lakers narrowly defeated the Grizzlies with James' outstanding performance, ending the losing streak, and at the same time giving the opponent four consecutive defeats and retaining the hope of finishing eighth in the West. In this game, in the case of James scoring 37 points and thick eyebrows scoring 36 points, the Lakers still narrowly defeated the three-point Grizzlies, which is really surprising, in addition to Zhan Mei, Russell's performance can be called disastrous, 9 shots and 2 shots, only 4 points!
Since February, the Lakers have experienced a lot of twists and turns. In the absence of the James, Reaves stepped up and led the team to a 32-point performance over the league-leading Celtics. In the next 31 games, the Lakers won 21 of them, showing good competitive form. Sadly, however, these efforts ultimately failed to put the Lakers in their own hands. In the key games with the Timberwolves and the Warriors, the Lakers lost one after another, and the injury of thick eyebrows and the failure of James to lead the team all indicate that the Lakers will inevitably escape the fate of double elimination this season. Entering the play-offs with a tired state and two do-or-die battles, how much energy do they have to compete against the mighty Nuggets for the injury-ridden Bushy Eyebrows and the aging James?
After the Lakers won the championship in the 19-20 season, the management's operation can be called amateurish, and this is more or less related to James, in the summer of 21, the Lakers got DeRozan infinitely, but James pressured the management to trade Wei Shao, but after Wei Shao came to the Lakers, there was a conflict with James on the ball, and finally James pressured the management to send Wei Shao away, back and forth, the Lakers lost Kuzma, Pope and 2 important first-round picks, and the transaction assets could almost get a young star. This season, James and thick eyebrows are the best year of health in recent seasons, and the Lakers' record is reasonable, but today's competition in the West is too bleak, and the Lakers have fallen to the point where they are now, who is to blame?