Also trailing by 10 points at the beginning, the Lakers quickly crawled out of the pit, but the Warriors remained deep in it. In the end, the Lakers defeated the Pelicans again 110-106 on the road and entered the playoffs in seventh place in the West, while the Warriors suffered a 94-118 defeat and were knocked out of the playoffs by the Kings, who lost to them last year.
The Lakers trailed by 10 points at the start of the second quarter, and they needed just three minutes to tie the game. The Warriors trailed the Kings by 10 points in the first quarter at 3 minutes and 39 seconds, and after a short comeback, the Warriors were stretched to 16 points again, but Kuminga and Moody narrowed the difference, and climbed to only 4 points from the pit at the end of the first half, however, the Warriors could play fewer people and play too poorly, and the difference in the second half was out of control, reaching a maximum of 26 points.
Although there is a difference between two lives and one life, they are both in the play-offs, and they are all led by senior stars, so why are the Warriors' performances so different from those of the Lakers? The fundamental reason is that the two teams have very different ideas for building their teams.
The Lakers have to restructure their roster every year, and only James and Davis, whose genetic structure remains the same, are out-and-out "mercenary models", so they spend at least half a season every year to find the ultimate lineup, cultivate tacit understanding, and establish a common channel style of play. Although there are always twists and turns, the Lakers have been able to break out of the play-offs with distinctive playing styles in the past two years.
The core structure of the Warriors has remained unchanged for many years, and most of the new players have been selected by the team, which is a mode of self-metabolism. The advantage of this model is that there is continuity in the style of play and the replacement of the lineup, and the disadvantage is that the team structure will age, and the core players will decline in combat effectiveness as they age and suffer injuries.
In the first round last year, the Warriors were able to eliminate the Kings in a series, and it stands to reason that this kind of single-elimination is more beneficial to older teams. But the Warriors played chaotic and made mistakes, conceding 20 points from 16 turnovers in the game, and Curry alone had six turnovers. At that time, one was old and the other was seriously injured, and Thompson was 0 of 10 in this key battle, including 0 of 6 three-pointers, and did not score in the whole game. With the exception of the one in which he was injured and played less than two minutes last November, this was Thompson's first clean sheet of the year.
The Lakers have been in turmoil all season, and they didn't get on track until the end of the season, beating the same opponent twice in a row on the road, which was a concentrated reflection of their 11-3 record at the end of the season. The Warriors won the championship in 2022, marking that the old lineup has become mature, and in the past two years, it can be seen that the lineup has aged, and the young people have not caught up and entered the stage of lack of success.
The Warriors' model is not uncommon in the long history of basketball, with a wave of top players eating for a decade, and the "golden generation" of Argentina and Yugoslavia was the same. The Lakers' model is rarely replicated, as James is unique and his duo with Davis is difficult to emulate. Changing a star, changing a group of partners, and forming a mercenary corps every year will not have this effect.
This teaming characteristic of the Lakers determines that they will often appear in the play-offs, because most of the season's energy is spent on finding a lineup, cultivating tacit understanding, and stabilizing the style of play, and the lineup will be turbulent;
There are many fans in China who believe before the game that the Lakers may deliberately lose to the Pelicans, fight for a second life, and play the Thunder as the eighth. Of course, this is not in line with my perception of the Lakers.
Sure enough, the Lakers went all out, and Davis, who had a back injury in the last game, also insisted on playing. If they want to hide from the Nuggets, they can completely prevent Davis from playing, in fact, Davis did not overturn the sea in this game, only scored 20 points, and let Zion score 40 points, 16 of the 17 balls scored were directly under the basket, and only one was a jumper from a meter or two away.
This reflects the differences between Eastern and Western cultures. The Chinese have always said "soldiers, tricks", whether fighting or playing, they pay attention to strategy, so the selection of opponents often appears in our league. But for James and the Lakers, there are obviously two lives, why should they become only one life?
At the same time, although the Nuggets are strong, the Lakers are not exactly the same as last year's lineup, and the characteristics of defensive counterattacks are more obvious. And the Nuggets have hardly changed from last year. It can be said that the Lakers are in the shadows and the Nuggets are in the light. We can see this year's Lakers beating the Nuggets as a continuation of last year's Western Conference finals series, and I believe that the two teams will fight again and will not end with a sweep like last year, and the Lakers will perform much better. Whether or not you can get through that is another matter, after all, the series is long.
Theoretically, the Warriors model would make their roster more stable, but in fact, they are in turmoil all year round, just like the Lakers, because of head coach Kerr, who wants to let the youngsters take the lead in his actions, but relies more on the veterans on his heart.
Kerr's "both want and want" allowed Thompson to play the starting lineup first, and if he didn't perform well, he persuaded him to come off the bench, and later let him return to the starting lineup. Kuminga played as a substitute first, then came out to pick the lead, and then let him play as a substitute after returning from injury.
The Warriors' roster is still changing by the end of the season, and few can adapt, only Curry is the constant core, but Curry is 36 years old after all.
In this crucial play-off game, Kerr obviously wanted to rely on the experience of the Warriors' golden lineup, and he put Kuminga on the bench, but it was Kuminga who almost helped the Warriors turn around in the second quarter, scoring 10 points in the first quarter and 16 points in the game, and Moody played one of the best games of the year, also scoring 16 points. However, Thompson was kept a clean sheet, and Wiggins, who has suffered a serious decline this season, only scored 12 points, with a plus/minus of -25, the lowest in the game.
With at least eight players on their contracts this summer, the Warriors can't afford to let the situation continue to deteriorate and must quickly move to a semi-rebuild.
When it comes to rebuilding, whether it's a tear down or a semi-rebuild, it's not a simple tinkering, it involves significant players and positions.
Curry's contract ends in 2026, with an annual salary of nearly $60 million in the final year, and both Wiggins and Dream have signed until 2027. There are several major changes that the Warriors need to consider: first, how will Thompson renew his contract? Second, how will Paul's 30 million be used? Third, will Kuminga and Moody renew their contracts early?
I think it's likely that Thompson will accept a discounted contract, and this play-off game will give the discount closer to 50%, which is about 20 million a year. Paul's 30 million is definitely not executed, and he can chase star players in advance. And Kuminga's revealed talent will allow the Warriors to sign him early, or he will become a restricted free agent in another year. Whether Moody's wants to renew his contract or not will definitely wait until the summer of 2025 to decide.
The Lakers and the Warriors, one to the left and the other to the right, this year's fate is here.