On April 26, Beijing time, the Lakers faced the Nuggets at home, falling behind 0-2 in the first two games, the Lakers had no way out, and if they continued to lose, they were likely to be swept out by the Nuggets for two consecutive years. The Lakers still did not change the lineup, continued to trust Russell, and at the beginning of the game, James and thick eyebrows dunked one after another, and beat the Nuggets 8-0 in a wave, even though the Nuggets worked hard to narrow the difference, but at the end of the first quarter, the Lakers still led by 10 points at 33-23. In the second quarter, the Nuggets began to simmer slowly, gradually eating away at the Lakers' lead, and recovered 6 points in the first quarter. In the third quarter, it was time for the Nuggets to close the game again, blasting out 34-22 to overtake 8 points, and in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets beat the Lakers again 112-105. The Lakers are 0-3 behind and are about to be eliminated, who is the culprit of the Lakers' loss in this game, the data doesn't lie, let's take a look.
James scored 26 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists in the whole game, and the violent dunk at the beginning was very morale-boosting, scoring 8 points in 4 of 4 in the first quarter, and 14 points in the half. Playing more than 40 minutes, for a 39-year-old veteran, couldn't ask for more. However, the referee's decision was also controversial, James hit a layup, suspected of walking early violation, Gordon also told the referee that Lao Zhan walked, but the referee ignored too much.
Brother Thick Eyebrows continued his dominating performance, cutting at least 30+10 luxury data in three consecutive games. In the first quarter of the game, thick eyebrows cut 12 points and 5 rebounds in 4 of 7, and once again beat Jokic in the head-to-head confrontation, and the offensive firepower declined in the second quarter, but he still scored 16 points and 7 rebounds at halftime. The scene of a dozen and five on the inside in the second half was poignant, the other four players of the Lakers were watching from the outside, and if the Lakers were finally eliminated, thick eyebrows were the only ones standing and leaving, and he got a super double-double of 33 points and 15 rebounds.
Hachimura, like the previous two games, didn't shoot too much, and the Nuggets were loose on his defense. Hachimura played 28 minutes, scored 5 points and 2 rebounds, and did not score a double-double in three consecutive playoff games, which was far from meeting expectations. You must know that in the offseason last year, in order to keep Hachimura to assist James, the Lakers offered him a three-year contract of $51 million, but he did not contribute much to entering the playoffs, which is indeed dwarfed by Gordon and Porter.
Russell continued to play the role of "undercover", 0 of 4 in the first half did not score, and the second half continued to be sluggish, coupled with the defensive end being targeted, he not only could not help on the court, but even dragged his feet, and was not a qualified starting point guard at all, Russell got 0 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 0 of 7 in the game. I don't understand why Ham has been reusing Russell, his offense is ineffective, and it's risking to let him play too much time. After this year's playoffs, Russell is likely to be traded by the Lakers, who have been reversed in three consecutive games, and Russell is primarily responsible except for the second game.
Reaves isn't very efficient at shooting either, but he's been okay in his last three games, scoring 13, 9 and 22 points, respectively. In today's game, Reaves has 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, which can still be said to be in the past, but in fact, the Lakers have high expectations for him, but the 26-year-old Reaves no longer has much potential, he can become the main player of the NBA team, but it is difficult to cultivate as a core.
The Lakers' Vincent, Dinwiddie and Prince are the three benches who have been given consistent playing time. Vincent had four points and four rebounds, Dinwiddie had eight points and three assists, and Prince had seven points. With the exception of Vincent, the other two players are on base salary contracts, and they can't be blamed for the loss, and Vincent's defensive performance in the playoffs has been impressive since his return, and he did his best. Overall, the overall strength of the Lakers is still inferior to the Nuggets, even if they often lead in the first half, but the Nuggets caught fire in the third quarter, and the game was reversed, and the Nuggets completed a double-digit reversal three times in a row, and the Lakers can prepare for the offseason in advance.