To be honest, in the middle of the Lakers and Nuggets, I almost figured out how to write the push for this game.
James and Thick Eyebrows, it seems that they have both built a time machine today. James opened the block to Murray's dunk, which made people think of the 2013 Finals when he blocked Split to get the ball.
In less than 20 seconds in the second quarter, James blocked Gordon and interfered with Murray's shooting, and then quickly went down to catch the ball. Popson couldn't put James down, and James took advantage of the situation to make it 2+1.
This goal also makes people think of the 2018 East Final G7, the goal that Morris Jr. pulled on James's shoulder. It's hard to imagine that this is James, who is six years older than in 2018, and James, who is 39 years old, has made himself a brand new cape.
In the first half, the Lakers were in control for most of the game. Russell opened with 5 of 5 three-pointers, relying on his firepower, James could devote himself to defense, and the thick eyebrows were in good shape, but Jokic immediately returned a 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first quarter.
James dreams back to 13 and 18, and the thick eyebrows also seem to dream back to the park in 2020. In the face of Jokic, the thick eyebrows showed their long-forgotten independent offensive ability, and continued to hit shots from the beginning, making 10 of 11 in the half.
In the second half, the thick eyebrows continued to advance, and they should have scored 32 points on 14-of-15 all the way, which was simply invincible. At that time, the Lakers led by 20 points, but most fans still did not open the champagne. The 12-point advantage in the last game was instantly leveled by the Nuggets, and it was far from time to celebrate.
Sure enough, the Nuggets immediately returned a wave of 13-0, and the point difference was instantly chased to single digits. The Lakers are back in the same predicament as they did in the previous loss to the Nuggets, and Zhan Mei's physical fitness has bottomed out, and the Lakers' offense has completely stalled.
But fortunately, the Lakers' previous lead was big enough to hold James back on the court. In the end, Kic came back early, shouted MVP all over the court, and the next shot was given to James, who was frowning from the court watching the situation on the court.
By the time James returned, the Lakers' advantage had been eroded to the point where there was not much left. But James' return changed the situation. He was still playing a pick-and-roll against Jokic, and then hit two three-pointers in a row, and the Lakers breathed a sigh of relief.
But the duo of Jokic and Murray turned to block and dismantle, and Jokic ate raw eyebrows under the basket. The moment of ace against ace came early, Zhan Mei against Yomu, thick eyebrows left the offensive state in the first three quarters, and he only shot 1 time in the last quarter without scoring.
All the offensive pressure of the Lakers is on James' shoulders. The Lakers scored 20 points in the final quarter and James scored 12 points. He slammed a dunk after stealing Murray, but then Porter's three-pointer responded with a breakaway layup for a key score, but Murray hit two shots in the final minute, including the smash-and-whistle that went down in history.
Before Murray's kill, James actually had an open three-point opportunity, and he couldn't make it. In fact, this kind of rhythm-breaking three-pointer, James has never been able to shoot. But with such a big space at the last minute, you have to make a move.
Murray's lore, the thick eyebrows defended with all his might, and he has done the ultimate in big defense, creating shooting space, and then shooting, all of which are Murray's big heart ability, which is really powerful.
Before he made the shootout, Murray was 8-of-23 from the field and missed a single three-pointer, playing extremely badly. He was robbed by James and dunked the ball, almost nailing himself to the post of shame, but he made two subsequent mid-range shots to complete the redemption.
The Nuggets certainly weren't 100 percent of the game today, and no third player on the team could hit a three-pointer except for Porter Jr.'s six three-pointers and Jokic's two. Including Jokic's 27 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists, I don't think this is his strongest form, but his grasp of critical moments, and his grasp of timing at critical moments, are incomparable.
James + thick eyebrows vs. Jokic + Murray is really the pinnacle matchup in the playoffs so far, the ultimate collision of basketball IQ. Compared to the first game, James' strategy of blocking and picking against Jokic today was successful, but the Nuggets' margin for error was terrible.
Of course, the Lakers could have done better, and many inexplicable passing errors in the second quarter made the Lakers miss the opportunity to open up the difference. The offensive power outage after leading to 20 points is actually inexplicable. You can't expect Bushy to keep shooting after 14-of-15, and you can't expect James to keep his fighting posture high throughout the game.
In this game, if James is two years younger, he can win it safely. He chose to break through after making two consecutive three-pointers, but the ball just couldn't go into the basket, and it wouldn't have happened before.
I actually really hope that the Lakers can make the score 1-1 and add more suspense to the series. But the Nuggets are too strong and stable, even if Murera penetrates the center of the earth, Jokic is always the most inexplicable point. Next to Jokic, there was Porter, who made six three-pointers.
It's hard to expect Murray, Porter, Pope and Gordon to pull their hips at the same time, so the Nuggets have the most stable floor in the league. The Lakers really didn't underestimate the Nuggets' ability to chase points, they just couldn't prevent it, and Jokic's physical energy was always so abundant.
The Lakers know they can't relax, but their physical functions can't keep up with their own hearts. James can break the time limit at certain moments, but he can't maintain that intensity for 48 minutes throughout the game, but Jokic can.
That's why Jokic is the strongest in the world, and everyone is convinced of him. Of course, there were times when he couldn't run and gasped for air, but I guess Jokic might have chosen to go to horse racing at that time, rather than feeling hopeless like James today.
The 39-year-old James still has a strong heart, and even at this age, he still wants to challenge the highest peak. The whole Lakers team is excited to play the Nuggets and wants revenge, even if the Nuggets are the strongest team.
In the first game, the Lakers fought fiercely, but made too many mistakes and were easily reversed by the Nuggets. Today's Lakers are even more extreme, compressing their own fault tolerance, James is full of defense, thick eyebrows are full of offense, and Russell is full of three-pointers. At one point, they led the Nuggets by 20 points, but they still couldn't win.
The 39-year-old James still wants to challenge the top of the league. He jumped up the block like he did eleven years ago, and he hit the fast break with people hanging like he did six years ago. He was still thinking about taking over the game in the last quarter, but he was just short of that three points.
At the age of 18, James wanted to become the GOAT, and at that time he had just entered the league, he made a promise to last his entire career. To this day, James continues to play at a high level day in and day out because he has not lost sight of his goals.
It is precisely because James is still so good that the loss of the Lakers today is so heartbreaking. The Lakers and James deserve a win, but life is so cruel, and the Nuggets and Murray deserve such an epic comeback.
On a tactical level, the Lakers don't actually have to sink into deep despair after this game. They just lost on the road, and then they're going back home, more familiar with the field, more familiar with the basket. James' pick-and-roll against Jokic was successful today, at least the Lakers found the Nuggets' pain points.
If you can't win like this today, you'll have to do better in the next game. Does the Lakers have the ability? Does James still have the ability? That's the fascinating part of the playoffs.