On April 17, 2024, Beijing time, the NBA play-offs will start today, with 2 matchups, namely Lakers vs Pelicans and Warriors vs Kings.
The first to play is the Lakers vs Pelicans, the Pelicans sit at home, 2 days ago in the regular season finale the two teams just met, the away Lakers suppressed the Pelicans, once led by 32 points, and finally won by 16 points. In the regular season this season, the Lakers have a great advantage against the Pelicans, winning 3 of 4 games and all of them are big wins, so the industry is optimistic about the Lakers in this play-off game.
The Pelicans performed well in the first quarter of the game, winning the Lakers by 8 points in a single quarter, and in the second quarter, the Pelicans started to lead by 10 points, and the Lakers scored continuously and the Pelicans fell into a scoring drought, the Lakers quickly overtook the score, the Lakers led by 10 points at halftime, and the Lakers once led by 18 points in the third quarter, but in the second half of the third quarter, the Pelicans played a strong performance, and the score difference in the third quarter chased to 7 points, and the Pelicans played better and better in the fourth quarter, tying the point difference, but the accident happened, Zion left the game with more than 3 minutes left and left the game with a hamstring injury, before leaving the game, Zion 27 in 17 cut 40 points, 11 boards and 5 assists, the Lakers had no way to take him, and the Lakers had the upper hand after ZionIn the end, the Lakers defeated the Pelicans 110-106 to take the seventh spot in the West.
James had 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists on 6-of-20, thick eyebrows scored 20 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks on 6-of-16, Russell scored 21 points and 6 assists on 7-of-14, and Zion scored 40 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists on 17-of-27 for the Pelicans.
The Lakers won the seventh playoff spot in the West after winning, which is good news, but the Lakers are currently mixed, because the first round of the playoffs will be against the Nuggets, the Nuggets can be called the Lakers' bitter master, from last season's playoffs to this season's regular season, the Lakers face the Nuggets 0-7, the Lakers want to beat the Nuggets in the series is too difficult, the Nuggets have both top stars and excellent teamwork, the Lakers can only compete with the Nuggets by playing a perfect performance.
After the Pelicans lose, they have to compete with the winner of the Warriors vs Kings for the eighth spot, so who is the winner? The answer is the King, the Kings face the Warriors at home today, the industry was unanimously optimistic about the Warriors before the game, but the unexpected happened, the Kings suppressed the Warriors all over the court, and finally the Kings defeated the Warriors 118-94.
The Kings' starting five Tigers all scored 15+, including Murray scoring 32 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals on 10-of-20 shooting (8-of-13 three-pointers), Fox scoring 24 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists on 11-of-25 shooting, and Sabonis scoring 16 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists on 7-of-14 shooting. For the Warriors, Curry had 22 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists on 8-of-16 shooting, 6 turnovers, Kuminga had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists on 6-of-15 shooting, Moody had 16 points and 3 boards on 5-of-8 shooting, and Klay played abnormally, scoring 0 points and 4 boards on 0-of-10 shooting.
The Warriors missed the playoffs after losing, and the Kings battled the Pelicans for the final playoff spot. The winner of the two teams will face the Thunder, who are the first in the West, in the first round of the playoffs, which is good news for the Thunder, because the Thunder don't have to play the Lakers and Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers and Warriors have top stars and rich playoff experience, the Thunder will be difficult to play when they meet, the Pelicans and the Kings are much easier to play, the Kings have injured Monk and Huerter, and the Pelicans Zion have injured their hamstrings, and the Thunder should have a good chance of beating them.
Here's how the West standings stand after today's play-offs.