NBA playoffs play-offs, Los Angeles Lakers away game against New Orleans Pelicans, the Lakers fell into passivity at the beginning of this game, after the Pelicans Ingram returned, the lineup was neat, and there were more scoring points, and the Lakers' James and thick eyebrows had a very difficult start, James entered the state a little slowly today, but soon after that, the firepower was fully opened, and the thick eyebrows encountered the Pelicans' strict defense on the inside, and the thick eyebrows needed to face Valanciunas, Zion Williamson and Ingram's various targeted encirclement.
In the first quarter, Ingram led the team's offense, sending wonderful passes in a row, Reaves responded quickly with three points, Yingge also hit a three-pointer, and the Pelicans opened with a 7-3 lead. James hit a three-pointer, Russell hit two three-pointers in a row, and the Lakers overtook the score.
Then the Lakers fell into a scoring drought, Zion scored consecutive baskets, Russell scored consecutive points, and the Pelicans led the Lakers 34-26 in the first quarter. Russell scored 13 points in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Vincent made contributions to offense and defense, James counterattacked and dunked, Russell hit a jumper, and the Lakers quickly narrowed the gap to 1 point. Zion helped the Pelicans stabilize their position, and the scores of the two teams alternated between the two teams.
But the Pelicans' shooting percentage suddenly began to decline in this quarter, and the Lakers launched a wave of 23-10 to take the initiative into their own hands. At halftime, the Lakers led the Pelicans 60-50.
After returning from the break, the Lakers continued to send a 13-5 offensive run to further open the score, but in the second half, the Pelicans fired from the outside to return to the 19-8 offensive and chased to single digits to retain hope; Ingram and Zion took turns to lead the team in the final quarter, but Zion's effect was better and led the team to a 13-2 offensive run to erase the score difference in one fell swoop; however, Zion, who was in full form, suddenly left the court and returned to the locker room, and Russell hit a key three-pointer in the countdown stage to give the Lakers a four-point advantage, and the thick eyebrows then grabbed a key rebound and made a foul and hit two free throws to lay the victory. In the end, the Lakers beat the Pelicans to get the first playoff spot.
Starting line-ups for both sides
Lakers: James, Davis, Hachimura, Reaves, Russell
Pelicans: Zion, Ingram, McCollum, Valanciunas, Jones
Highlights of the competition
(1) James is in very good shape today, this ball James holds the ball and breaks quickly, directly to the opponent's inside line and scores a layup!
(2) Russell hit consecutive three-pointers as soon as he came up, and Russell hit a lot of long-range shots when the Lakers needed him the most!!
(3) Although the opening offense of the thick eyebrows was not smooth, he played hard and kept giving the Pelicans interior strength!
(4) Vincent finally contributed, this ball always received a pass from Reaves, hit a three-point shot, and the contract that the Lakers gave him finally got a little reward!
(5) On the defensive end, the thick eyebrows also tried their best to oppose Wallan, and the thick eyebrows of this ball were successfully blocked, and they also won the opportunity for the Lakers to score on the counterattack!
Background of the competition
The Lakers won the last two games of the regular season to move to 47-35 and finish eighth in the West, which also gave them two lives in the playoffs. However, the defending champion Nuggets are in second place in the West, which means that the winner of the Lakers and Pelicans will face the defending champions in the first round, and at this time, the idea of "Lakers avoiding the Nuggets" has been spread. For the Lakers, are they really qualified to pick an opponent? The play-offs are a win-or-lose, full of uncertainty, can the Lakers ensure that they will beat the Kings or the Warriors in the second game? This season, the Lakers are 0-4 against the Kings and 1-3 against the Warriors, all of which are passive.
The Pelicans finished the regular season with a 49-33 record, which can be ranked fourth in the East, but unfortunately the competition in the West is too fierce. In the playoffs, the Pelicans will play with the strongest lineup, and the whole team can play, and Ingram will return to play one game, and his form will recover. In addition, if the Pelicans want to make some changes, they must be tough on the inside, otherwise they will not be able to cause problems for the Lakers, and the Pelicans have only achieved 1-3 in a total of 4 meetings between the two sides this season.