Congratulations to Zion! Congratulations to Yingge! The Pelicans made the playoffs, Fox slashed 35+7, and the Kings were out
At half past nine in the morning on April 20, Beijing time, the last play-off game of the 2023-24 season officially began! Of course, this is also an incomplete game, with Huerter and Monk on the Kings side sidelined due to injury, and Zion Williamson on the Pelicans' side will also be sidelined due to injury. This is bound to make the game less exciting!
Based on the current situation, the Kings are undoubtedly the team with the better chance of winning, because the Pelicans have lost their star Zion Williamson, which is bound to make them a big dentance. Without Zion Williamson turning over the river and the sea on the inside, the Pelicans may not be able to withstand the king's indiscriminate bombardment! This upstart team in the league that plays like the Warriors, although they have lost Monk and Huerter, they still have super strong offensive firepower under the leadership of Fox and Sabonis Jr.! Hanging the Warriors in the first round of the play-offs is enough to show that the firepower of the remnant king is still super strong! At present, the Pelicans have won five consecutive victories against the King, and they have a huge advantage in battle psychology. Of course, the Kings definitely don't want to continue to be held by the Pelicans, and a-for-tat game is about to start!
The Pelicans sent Wallan, McCollum, Murphy, Yingge and Jones to start, and the Kings started Fox, Sabonis Jr., Murray, Ellis and Barnes. At the beginning of the game, Xiao San's internal line made a killing free throw to score two points, Varan hooked his hand, Xiao Sa responded with a violent dunk, Yingge hit a dry shot, and the two sides started to attack! Fox scored a three-point shot, McCollum hit a layup, Sabonis Jr. scored a basket, and the Kings gradually took the initiative on the court! McCollum made a rebound, Murphy scored three points, and the first quarter ended with the Kings leading the Pelicans by 2 points at 24-22!
In the second quarter, Varland came up to help the Pelicans tie the score by making a basket, Xiao Sa hooked his hand to score, Murray scored three steps through Yang, the sixth 2+1 responded strongly, Mitchell pulled out the hollow into the basket, and the two sides entered a tug-of-war! Murphy and Nance attacked one after another, directly stopping the King! Barnes rebounded to stop the bleeding, Marshall scored five points in a row to stop the King, and the Pelicans led to 12 points! Fox hit three consecutive points, and the difference returned to single digits, Nance hit one of two free throws, and the Kings trailed the Pelicans by 9 points at the end of the first half 45-54.
From leading the Pelicans by two points in the first quarter to trailing by nine points at halftime, the Kings lost by 11 points in the second quarter, and in the face of the Pelicans without Zion Williamson, do they really want to overturn in the gutter? In the first half, the Kings Fox had 18 points and 1 assist, and as a point guard, he only had 1 assist! Sa Jr. had 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, Barnes had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Murray had 4 points and 2 rebounds, and Mitchell had 2 points. The Pelicans had nine points and five rebounds, Murphy had eight points and five assists, Varland had 12 points and nine rebounds, McCollum had four points, Marshall had nine points and Nance had nine points.
In the third quarter, Yingge came up and played 2+1, Murray hit a rebound, Varland scored two points, Fox hit a dry shot, and the two sides scored against each other! McCollum and Jones bombarded with three points, and the difference came to 14 points, and the Kings couldn't stand it! Mitchell crossed Yang with three points, and Fox continued to score three points, and finally chased the score to single digits! Ingram hit a difficult pull, and the Kings beat the Pelicans 74-83 in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Kings fell into a scoring drought, and the Pelicans took the opportunity to launch an 11-3 attack wave to take a 17-point lead in an instant! The old six three-pointers rose and fell, killing people, and the Pelicans led by as many as 20 points! The Kings hit an 8-2 attack wave to set off a crazy counterattack! With three minutes left in the game, the Kings had their last chance. Yingge hit a steady jump shot, and this ball basically killed the game! In the end, the Pelicans beat the Kings 105-98 at home to advance to the playoffs!
With the Pelicans eliminating the Kings and getting the last playoff ticket in the West, the Western Conference quarterfinals are officially released, and the four groups of matchups are: Thunder-Pelicans, Nuggets-Lakers, Timberwolves-Suns, Clippers-Mavericks. It's really a pity that the Kings failed to seize the opportunity to capture the Pelicans' home court in the absence of Zion Williamson! The absence of Monk and Huerter does have a great impact on them, but you play the Pelicans without Zion, you can't win, and you really don't deserve to make the playoffs! Stats: King Fox slashed 35 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, Sa Jr. 23 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists, Barnes 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, Murray 11 points and 7 rebounds, and Mitchell 10 points.
Pelicans Ingram 24 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, in Zion's absence, he carried the banner of the team, and finally led the team to the playoffs, with a remarkable performance! Murphy 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, Varland 19 points and 12 rebounds, McCollum 7 points and 3 rebounds, Lao Liu 10 points and 5 rebounds, Marshall 11 points and 6 rebounds, Nance 13 points and 4 rebounds. With the Pelicans knocking out the Kings and advancing to the playoffs, Zion Williamson is also making his first career trip to the playoffs!