Epic playoff battles, the Lakers have entered the playoff competition for the playoffs almost every season since the launch of the play-offs, and James is the most regrettable "GOAT" star in this play-off. Today, the Lakers and Pelicans play the playoffs, and it is also a star matchup between Zion and James. As a result, the Fat Tiger finally left the game with an injury, and the Lakers narrowly defeated the Pelicans 110-106 to advance to the playoffs and face the Nuggets in the first round.
James took the responsibility of defending Zion on his shoulders before the game, in the first quarter of the game, the Pelicans put a lot of pressure on the Lakers, the game was played on the Pelicans' home court, the first quarter of the main Zion received a miraculous effect, James couldn't prevent Zion, Zion scored 12 points, the Pelicans beat the Lakers 34-26 in the first quarter, and the two teams were tense.
In the second quarter, the Lakers started to kill, Russell opened the bow, James also started the playoff mode, the Pelicans defense collapsed, and the Lakers played a wave of 13-0 offensive climax. At the end of the game, Yingge passed Zion's basket and dunked James, and then came back, James held the ball to make Zion foul, the Lakers played the last attack of the first half, turnover, the Pelicans played the last 4.5 seconds, Zion scored a wonderful dragon basketball, the Pelicans 30-60 behind the Lakers 10 people, and the Lakers beat the Pelicans a 34-16 in the second quarter to end the first half.
First-half stats: On the Pelicans' side, Zion 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, Yingge 9 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Varland 4 points and 8 rebounds, Jones 7 points, CJ 5 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, Nance 3 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists;
Lakers' side: James 15 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, Russell 15 points and 6 assists, Davis 6 points and 8 boards, Hachimura 5 points, Reaves 5 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Prince 6 points and 3 boards, Vincent 6 points and 1 board. Davis played mediocre in the first half and had to be in good shape in the second half.
Coming back in the second half, Yingge singled Russell and missed the shot, after Reeves scored a 3-pointer from the outside, Jones responded with an outside 3-pointer, and the two teams each scored a 3-pointer, James was going to fight hard, the Fat Tiger offense knocked James down and fouled the offense, and James continued to insist on the game. James steals and assists Russell to miss a 3-point shot, Russell and James play a block, James forced Jones to foul Bo serve, and hit all 2 free throws. Yingge holds the ball and breaks through the Lakers 3 will directly face the thick eyebrows to make a foul, Hachimura has another 3-point outside line, and the Pelicans have over-assisted the result of James.
James made Jones offensive fouls under the basket, and the Pelicans played very messily at this stage, especially letting Yingge hold the ball to create opportunities, either a mistake or an offensive foul, and the Pelicans should give the ball to the Fat Tiger. Sure enough, the effect of the fat tiger holding the ball was different, and he stopped the bleeding by playing Hachimura with a 2+1, and the fat tiger scored 4 points in a row to stop the Lakers. The two teams are 75-61, and the Lakers still have a 14-point lead, and with five minutes left in the third quarter, the Pelicans still have a chance to close the score.
James had less than 3 minutes left in the third quarter to take a short break, and the Fat Tiger basket made a five-game foul on Russell, and Russell missed 2 consecutive empty 3-point shots, which was terrible. Fat Tiger hit a foul on the last ball of the third quarter and hit one of two free throws. At the end of the third quarter, the Pelicans trailed by seven points at 76-83, the Fat Tiger scored 11 points in the third quarter, and James scored only four points. The Pelicans 26-23 Lakers in the third quarter, the Pelicans won the Lakers by 3 points in this quarter, and Russell didn't score a point in the third quarter.
In the last quarter, Vincent played a timely 2+1, Russell finally made a 3-pointer, and the Lakers stabilized the situation on the court. Lao Zhan missed a breakthrough backhand layup, and the thick eyebrows scored a second attack under the basket, and Zion was still resting off the court. The thick eyebrows played Nance and made a foul, and Zion couldn't sit still and played early. The fat tiger came up and made a deep layup, Murphy scored 3 points from a distance, Zion broke through and made Davis foul, and the Lakers were in danger everywhere.
James made a layup and was covered, and the Pelicans Alvarado 3-pointer approached the score to only 2 points, and the Lakers couldn't play two play-off games to consume James, even against the Nuggets. Zion's layup was unsolvable, and the Lakers had no one to defend against. Zion tied the score at 93-93 with an empty dunk, and after Davis scored 2 points, Zion scored 40 points on a layup in the face of Davis again.
James hit CJ hard to make a foul, and Zion seems to have relapsed from an old injury. If Zion can't hold out until the last 3 minutes, the Lakers have a chance to win. Entering the last 1 minute, the Lakers led by 1 point, Russell shot a 3-pointer, the Lakers led by 4 points, the Pelicans' life hung by a thread, Zion was injured in the last minute, and he scored 40 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. The Lakers made their last offense, and Davis made two rebounds and foul free throws to seal the win. With 15 seconds left in the end, the Lakers led by four points at 106-102. In the end, the Lakers narrowly defeated the Pelicans 110-106 to advance to the playoffs against the Nuggets.
Fat Tiger finally left the game to give the Lakers a chance, Fat Tiger!
Pelicans: Fat Tiger 40 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, Yingge 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, Jones 10 points, Murphy 12 points, Alvarado 10 points and 7 assists
Lakers: James 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, Davis 20 points and 15 boards, Russell 21 points and 6 assists, Hachimura 13 points, Reaves 16 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists