On April 26, Beijing time, the first round of the NBA playoffs ushered in the G3 battle between the Lakers and the Nuggets! After winning two consecutive home court battles, the Nuggets showed their impeccable strength. No matter how the opponent adjusts their tactics, they can always find a strategy to deal with it quickly. In the first matchup, the Nuggets set off an offensive frenzy in the third quarter and won the game in one fell swoop, and in the second game, they successfully completed a 20-point comeback with Murray's stunner. This way of winning is undoubtedly a huge blow to the Lakers' confidence. After two games, Jokic and Murray's play is still difficult to be limited, and Porter Jr. also averages 20.5 points per game, and all three average more than 20 points per game, showing the Nuggets' strong overall strength.
In contrast, the Lakers are in a precarious position after two consecutive losses on the road. Against the Nuggets, they didn't seem to be able to find an effective coping strategy, and both games were reversed by their opponents. In Game 2, although James was close to a triple-double, Davis recorded an efficient double-double of 32 points and 11 rebounds, and Russell made seven three-pointers amid outside criticism, such a performance still failed to bring the team a victory. Now back at home, the Lakers need the whole team to come back to life and go all out, after all, 0-3 and 1-2 are completely different.
In the history of the NBA, there have been 196 times when the first round has been 0-2 down, however, only 13 times the underdog has been able to successfully counterattack, and the probability of advancing to the next round is less than 7%. As for the Lakers, they have suffered 22 times in team history when they fell behind 0-2, but only two times they were able to stubbornly counterattack and advance. This series of data and facts seem to indicate that the fate of the Lakers being eliminated by the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs this year is almost a foregone conclusion.
Although the Lakers have an experienced and powerful James, the years are not forgiving, after all, he is no longer the young king who called for wind and rain on the court back then. In order to replicate the epic comeback in the 2016 Finals, from 1-3 down to the eventual championship, for the current James, the Lakers are facing an extremely difficult situation, they need to play extraordinarily in the next games to be able to reverse the decline and avoid being eliminated, they urgently need to get their first win at home to reverse the current decline.
It is worth mentioning that after the G2 loss, Lakers interior Davis said in an interview: "We did show our strength in the first three quarters, but in the final quarter, I did lose my way and didn't know how to play effectively on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends." There was a palpable frustration and disappointment on his face, and the big eyebrows had tried their best, but the results were not as good as they could be, and he even became the foil to Jamal Murray's stunner in the game, which was undoubtedly a huge blow to his self-confidence. You know, before the game, Thick Eyebrows had confidently declared himself the best defensive player in the league, able to easily handle the change of defense from No. 1 to No. 5. In fact, in the first three quarters, the thick eyebrows did achieve a combination of offense and defense, and their performance was even better than Jokic, but the helpless thing is that the thick eyebrows in the last quarter only got one shot in the last quarter, and they had no chance to touch the ball at all! Ham's remarks about the thick eyebrows only boiled down to "frustration", and emphasized that there is no problem with the Lakers' tactical arrangement!
It is not difficult to see that the Lakers' tactical arrangement is to focus on thick eyebrows in the first two quarters and James in the second two quarters! But thick eyebrows are in such a good state, is it a bit "overkill" not to give a little ball! Maybe the coaching staff takes into account that thick eyebrows' physical fitness has dried up, so the Lakers coaching staff plans to let Wood come back in the G3 game. Wood can shoot and grab rebounds, although the confrontation ability is not good, but as long as he is on the top of the interior for 15 minutes per game, thick eyebrows can get some respite, Wood can shoot 3 points, and even play with thick eyebrows, he goes to the opposite Porter Jr., let the eight-inch opposite Gordon, James goes to the opposite Murray, which can basically make up for the gap in size, it can be said that Wood's comeback is the last straw for the Lakers.
But only 24 hours later, Wood announced that G3 could not play, and the relevant media did not give any reason, maybe the injury is still not thorough, or the personal condition is very poor, in the team's joint practice, Wood's performance simply cannot meet the requirements of the coaching staff. In addition to Wood's inability to return, Van der Biao has previously participated in the team's training and is expected to return this season, but according to media reports, he continues to be absent in the G3 game and cannot return early.
The Lakers are really embarrassed by this song, and Wood suddenly says that he will not play again, which is really embarrassing! This also shows the gap between Ham and Tyronn Lue, Tyronn Lue has been tight-lipped about the injury of Xiaoka, and the team's personnel arrangements and injuries are never put on the table, but Ham is talking nonsense everywhere without a shadow, which makes people happy! Wood has been out for two full months so far, and has been absent since February 14 due to a knee injury. If G3 is unable to play and the Lakers lose again, even if G4 can come back, it may be difficult to turn the situation around. Thick eyebrows have to continue to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the inside line in the audience!