On April 20, Beijing time, the second round of the NBA play-offs began, and the Pelicans met the challenge of the Kings at home. In five losses to the Pelicans, the Kings have lost by a total of 96 points.
In the first quarter of the game, the two teams went back and forth and started a fierce tug-of-war. However, as the game progressed, the Kings gradually showed more control on the court. Sabonis Jr. scored back-to-back points on the inside, while Fox played on the outside, and the excellent performance of the two allowed the Kings to take the initiative on the court for a while. However, the Pelicans gradually found their groove late in the quarter and managed to close the deficit.
Entering the second quarter, the Pelicans' offensive firepower was full of firepower, scoring 32 points in a single quarter and successfully stretching the margin to double digits. By halftime, the Kings were already trailing by nine points, and the situation was not optimistic.
After the start of the second half, the Pelicans continued to maintain a solid play, always maintaining a lead of about ten points. Despite Fox's excellent personal form, he was unable to lead the team to close the score. Entering the final quarter, the Kings' offense was even more mired, scoring only 3 points in the first quarter, which allowed the Pelicans to continue to widen the margin and extend the advantage to 20 points.
The suspense of the game was completely lost at this point, and in the end, the Pelicans easily defeated the Kings and successfully won the last playoff spot in the West. Although the Kings performed well, they were unable to withstand the Pelicans' strong offense in the end, losing to the Pelicans 98-105, unfortunately ending the season's journey, the Pelicans playoffs, the first round against the Thunder!
The Kings are averaging a whopping 116.6 points per game this season, which ranks ninth in the West. However, they have been a little less effective on the defensive end, conceding 114.8 points per game, which ranks 17th in the league. However, the Kings' free-throw shooting performance was not as good as it could be. Their free-throw percentage is only 13.4 percent, which ranks fourth from the bottom of the league, and their free throw percentage per game is only 74.5 percent, which is the lowest in the league. In addition, their 20.9 free throws per game also rank in the bottom of the league.
It's worth mentioning that outside three-point shooting is an important scoring tool for the Kings, who are averaging 14.4 3-pointers per game this season, ranking fourth in the league. Meanwhile, the Kings are averaging 39.3 three-point shots per game, which ranks third in the league. However, the Kings' three-point shooting ability is extremely inconsistent. When they are on the fire, they can set off a scoring frenzy in a short period of time and show amazing scoring explosiveness, however, once the feeling cools, their scoring ability is greatly reduced, and they can often only watch their hard-won lead be eaten away by their opponents.
In terms of player performance, the Kings have six players averaging double-doubles in points per game. Among them, Fox performed well, averaging 26.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Sa was also a solid player, averaging 19.4 points, 13.7 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. Monk and Murray are averaging 15.4 and 15.2 points per game, respectively. In addition, the Kings' bench players also performed well, averaging 35.7 points per game, ranking 11th in the league. It was the Kings' strong performance on the offensive end, and they were once in the playoffs in the mighty West! But with the injuries of Monk and Huerter, the Kings' firepower on the bench dropped a notch, and no one could fill the vacancy of nearly 25 points per game!
In addition, the Kings' performance in key moments was worrying. Many times, they were able to win the game by chance, thanks to Monk's stepping up and turning the tide. However, after Monk was reimbursed for the season, the Kings lost the backbone they could rely on on offensively, and their performance on the court was also greatly affected. Xiao Sa plays more of a high-level blue-collar role, with good response ability, flawed defense, and does not hurt the opponent very much on the offensive end. And Fox, who repeatedly performed miracles at key moments last season, has lost his former style this season, although his scoring ability is good, but his efficiency has decreased a lot, and there are many mistakes.
In late March, the Kings were still a playoff-caliber team, but in the game against the Mavericks on March 30, the Kings once held a 15-point lead, but in the final quarter of the game they lost by 13 points, unfortunately suffered a big comeback, on April 5 against the Knicks, the Kings had a lead of as many as 21 points, but suddenly collapsed in the second half, and were reversed by the opponent again with a 21-point deficit, on April 6 against the Celtics, the Kings once trailed by 19 points, but they fought back stubbornly and dragged the game until the last minute, but were finally defeated by Tillman's stunner, and on April 10, against the Thunder, the Kings led by as many as 20 points in the first halfOn April 12, the Kings were behind the whole game, trailing by 23 points at most, and finally lost by 12 points, and in the game against the Suns on April 13, the Kings had a 16-point lead, but collapsed again in the final quarter and suffered a 16-point comeback. This is enough to get a glimpse of the critical moment, Fox is really not as good as Munch!
Taking today's game as an example, Fox made 27 shots, hit 12 shots, and scored 32 points on 4-of-14 3-point shooting. Xiao Sa was efficient in this game, hitting 9 of 14 shots, getting 23 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, but on the other hand, the Pelicans' Wallan also scored 19 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists, which was comparable to his performance, but their salaries were very different. After Monk and Huerter were sidelined, Murray and Ellis were the Kings desperately needed players who could step up and score, and Moody went crazy for 32+ against the Warriors9 highlight data, this game also died down to score 11 points, Ellis is 5 shots 0 points, 0 points, in addition to these two, the biggest culprit of the King's loss is the bench players, the King's bench Mitchell scored 10 points, Vetzin Kok scored 2 points, a total of 12 points, and the Pelicans' bench, Nance scored 13 points, Marshall scored 11 points, Alvarado scored 10 points, which is stronger and weaker, and the judgment is superior!