On April 23, Beijing time, the Nuggets played the Lakers again at home. In the first quarter, the Lakers relied on a wave of 14-6 offense to establish the lead after a brief tug-of-war, Russell changed his previous decline and scored three three-pointers in a row, and Jokic relied on his super individual ability to score 10 points to lead the team to 4 points. In the second quarter, the thick eyebrows took over the offensive banner, scoring 14 points in a single quarter to help the Lakers establish a double-digit lead, and the Lakers led the Nuggets 59-44 at halftime. Yibian fought again, thick eyebrows continued to be in good shape, the Nuggets still failed to find the outside touch, the maximum point difference between the two sides once reached 20 points, and they were about to be taken away by a wave, and the Nuggets suddenly rebounded to return to a small climax of 12-3. In the final quarter, the Nuggets showed the resilience of the defending champions and kept approaching the score, James also turned on the full Zhan mode to help the Lakers maintain a slight advantage, and at the last moment, Murray completed the whistle under the strict defense of the Lakers and scored a stunner. In the end, the Nuggets reversed the Lakers 109-99 and led 2-0 in the overall score.
It is worth mentioning that the Nuggets did not shoot well in this game, only 8 of 34 three-pointers, and the shooting rate was much lower than their regular season performance.
The Lakers' 10-game losing streak against the Nuggets shows the need for their roster to adjust and strengthen. In the last game, Jokic easily got 32 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists, although the first half of this game was dominated by thick eyebrows, but in the chasing stage, he continued to eat thick eyebrows, and scored 27 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists on 9-of-16 shooting.
Just today, former Lakers center Howard called out James on social media, asking to join the Lakers again to help them fight the Nuggets. "LeBron 39, I'm 38! You said that was 3 years ago, but I'm still in good shape, and I want to give you the answer. ”
Although Howard currently plays for Puerto Rico's Guainabo Metropolita, he has always been keen to rejoin the NBA, but due to rules restrictions that require any signings to be made before the playoffs, Howard's wish is in vain.
Howard's "joke" opened up an idea for the Lakers, and in the 20 Lakers championship season, the Lakers limited Jokic through a twin-tower lineup composed of Howard and thick eyebrows, and the Lakers could seek a workaround to try to form a twin-tower lineup. The good news is that just after the game, according to the Lakers, Wood will officially return in G3. Wood is tall and long-armed, can grab rebounds, and although he is not as big as Howard, he has some autonomous offensive ability and can open up space, and Wood's return may change the course of the series.
Of course, this is a test of head coach Ham's coaching ability, and if the Lakers are out in the first round, Ham is not far from getting out of class.