Preface
After the start of the playoffs, there have been many players who have played very well, not to mention Jokic, whose performance once again proved why he is the best player in the league right now, and his teammate Murray, who once fell behind by 20 points in G2, helped the team catch up in the final quarter, and killed the Lakers with a sword in the final moment. Back at home, the Lakers alone couldn't withstand the Nuggets' powerful offense. 112:105! The Lakers trailed the Nuggets 0-3, and the Nuggets were just one game away from a sweep.
Although the Lakers trailed the Nuggets 0-3, Thick Eyebrow's individual performance can be said to be impeccable, and in the three games with the Nuggets, Thick Eyebrow averaged 33 points, 13.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. In terms of individual performance, Jokic is by no means defeated. In addition to the thick eyebrows, there was another player in the playoffs who also played well beyond expectations.
This player is Siakam, who was traded to the Pacers by the Raptors in the regular season, and with his help, the Pacers not only finished sixth in the East with a 47-35 record, but also basically delivered a near-perfect score in the series against the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. After two games, the Pacers won G2 at the Bucks' home court, so the score between the two sides was also rewritten to a 1-1 draw.
As the biggest contributor to the Pacers' victory, Siakam's individual play in these two games can be called inexplicable, because Brother Alphabet can't play, Siakam casually bullies the Bucks' forward line on the court, and Portis, Crowder and others' defense is no different from sending points to him.
G1 Siakam played 40 minutes, shooting 15-of-25 from the field, 1-of-4 from three-point range, contributing a career-high 36 points, plus 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. It's a pity that Lillard on the opposite side also hung up, scoring 35 points in the half, forcing the Pacers to keep wrapping him in the second half, which also gave other players of the Bucks a chance to beat the Pacers. However, the most critical part of the Pacers' loss was that their offense did not go well, and the nominal big man Haliburton was obviously not comfortable playing in the playoffs for the first time, and he only scored 12 points on 10 shots in the game.
G2 is still playing on the Bucks' home court, and this Siakam continued his hot hand and once again broke a new single-game scoring high in his playoff career, shooting 16-of-23 from the field, 3-of-4 from three-point range, and slashing 37 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Throughout the game, Siakam showed his all-round offensive approach, whether it was three-point, mid-range, or breaking, he was very skillful, and with his help, the game lost suspense early, and finally the Pacers relied on a 17-point victory to tie the score.
Along with the victory, Siakam also became the third player in history to score 35+ points and 10+ rebounds in the first two games of the playoffs, the first two being Chamberlain in 1967 and Baylor in 1961. As the underdogs, the Pacers can win first on the road, which is definitely very good news for them, not only proves that they have the quality to advance, but also accelerates the progress of the series, and they need to try to accumulate enough wins before the return of the Pacers, if they have a match point by the time the latter returns, it may not be possible for him to influence the final result even if he is a top-three player in the league.
Now it seems that the Pacers not only have a chance to beat the Bucks, they may even make it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals, assuming they can advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, they will face the Knicks and the winner of the 76ers, the intensity of this set of matchups leads to no matter who of these two teams can win, it will definitely be a big injury in the end, so the Pacers may really be able to "pick up the leak", as long as Siakam continues his current state, Haliburton can recover after adapting to the playoffs, then the Pacers have every chance to meet the Green Army in the East.
Now look at the Raptors' decision to trade Siakam, I don't know whether it was right or wrong, they are not disrespectful to the hero who once helped the team win the championship, the main reason is that Siakam's playing style and position overlap with the team's new star Barnes, plus the latter's performance this season is really good, so the Raptors finally chose to trade Siakam to make way for Barnes.
However, with the Raptors confirming that they would miss the playoffs early, and Siakam playing at the level of the league's top superstar in the Pacers, the Raptors management should probably regret it, even if they had to trade, they should have asked for more chips if they knew that his performance was so good.
In addition to the Raptors, the Lakers, who seem to be outsiders, are also "crying" in the corner, and the Lakers also had interest in him when Siakam was put on the trade shelf. At that time, many reporters reported that the Lakers wanted to get Siakam, and the American media also simulated what chips the Lakers would pay if the final trade was formed, basically Russell plus Reaves, and then send a first-rounder, but unfortunately in the end, for various reasons, the Lakers chose to respond to all changes, so they did not make any trades before the trade deadline.
But now the situation of the Lakers and the Pacers can be said to be one underground and one in the sky, facing the Nuggets Lakers every game is the same plot, the first three quarters played back and forth, and the last quarter was pressed. The 39-year-old James also averaged 26.5 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists per game, and the biggest gap between them and the Nuggets is the players except for the duo on both sides.
Russell and Reaves, who were originally thought to be traded to Siakam chips, both of them played decently in this round of the series, the former G1 shot 6 of 20 from the field, 1 of 9 from three-point range, although he made 7 three-pointers in the second game, but in the key third game, Russell was invisible again, scoring 0 of 7 shots in the game. And Rivers' performance was also not much better, shooting only 5 of 16 three-pointers in three games, shooting just over 30%, such a performance could hardly help the Lakers win.
So after seeing Siakam's performance, the Lakers probably regret it more than the Raptors, if Siakam had joined the Lakers to play such a performance, then the Lakers would at least be able to fight with the Nuggets now. It's a pity that there is no regret medicine in the world, after falling behind 0:3, the Lakers can only accept the fact that they were eliminated by the Nuggets again, and the only thing the Lakers can do at present is to fight for dignity and pull back one at home, so that the Lakers can also avoid the embarrassment of being swept by the Nuggets for two consecutive seasons.