In the first round of G3, the Nuggets defeated the Lakers 112-105 away, leading 3-0.
This game is almost a replica of the series G1, the Lakers started the game hard, came up with a wave of 8-0, and then led all the way, and led by 4 points at halftime, 53-49;
However, in the third quarter, the Lakers suddenly collapsed again, and after 5 minutes, they were beaten by the Nuggets with a wave of 20-8, and they never caught up after being overtaken, and the score of the two teams in this quarter was 34-22, and the Nuggets won these 12 points in a single quarter.
The Nuggets played the Lakers like this, the Lakers are 10 points ahead, or even 20 points are unstable, and the Nuggets may catch up at any time, but as long as the Lakers are behind, once the point difference reaches 10 points, then there is almost no possibility of catching up.
Since the Lakers can lead in three consecutive halves, it shows that they do have some ability, but every time the Nuggets can catch up, we have to admire the stability of the Nuggets, and there is always someone in their starting five who can stand up.
In this game, the Nuggets scored a total of 4 20+:
- Jokic, 24 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists, 9-of-13 shooting
- Murray, 22 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 8-of-21 shooting
- Porter Jr., 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, 8-of-16 shooting
- Gordon, 29 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 12-of-18 shooting
Jokic and Murray are the basic handicap, the Nuggets' positional battle at the critical moment must be these two blocking and dismantling, Murray's hand is not good in this game, a total of 6 of 1 outside the three-point line, and 4 shots and 0 in the fourth quarter, just like that, still turned the Lakers over.
Porter Jr. has always had experience playing the Lakers, in the previous two games, G1 had 19 points and 8 rebounds in a single game (8 of 15 shots), and G2 had 22 points and 9 rebounds in a single game (8 of 13 shots), and the same was true for this game, he scored 10 points in a single quarter in the fourth quarter, and a jumper directly extinguished the Lakers' counterattack.
In this game, the Nuggets' brightest is probably Gordon.
In the third quarter, the Nuggets' key over-the-top section, Gordon made great contributions, scoring 10 points in 5 of 6 in a single quarter, and it is no exaggeration to say that Gordon in this quarter completely blew up the Lakers' interior line, and his 6 shots were all directly below the basket;
At the end of the fourth quarter, the Lakers made a tactical foul and sent Gordon to the free throw line three times, and then, Gordon, who shot only 65.8% from the free throw line in the regular season and 68.3% from the free throw line in his career, made 5 of 6 from the free throw line, extinguishing the Lakers' last hope of a comeback.
The Nuggets have probably the best starting combination in the league, which was proven in the playoffs last year, statistically, in last year's playoffs, when five people were on the floor at the same time, the Nuggets won by 9.3 points per 100 rounds, and this year's regular season, this number can continue to increase to 13.6 points, which is quite crazy.
Let's talk about the Lakers, this shift series so far, the biggest feeling is three words: can't beat.
Zhan Mei led the team and successfully started three games in a row, but every second half, the team will have a "sudden death" power outage, G1 is in the second half of the third quarter, G2 is in the middle of the third quarter, and G3 is at the beginning of the third quarter.
In this game, James scored 26 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists (12 of 20 shooting), and thick eyebrows also had 33 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists (14 of 23 shooting), which were not bad, but in the third quarter, James scored 2 points in a single quarter, and in the fourth quarter, thick eyebrows scored 3 points in a single quarter;
Physical strength is one thing, no tactics is also the other, three games in a row, the Lakers gave people the feeling in the fourth quarter, scoring all by singles and fast breaks, and there was no way to fall into the position.
It is worth mentioning that Russell pulled his hips again in this game, shooting 0 of 7 in the whole game, including 0 of 6 three-pointers, and did not score a point;
Previously, G1, Russell made 1 of 9 three-pointers in a single game, but G2 Russell found his touch and made 7 three-pointers;
Due to his poor hand, Russell only got 24 minutes of playing time in this game, and there was a "controversial scene" in the game, with the Lakers laying out tactics during the timeout, and Russell hiding in the corner to eat.
However, the Lakers lost to Russell without taking the blame, and there are a few other bad points:
1. There are big problems in the offense and defense of Hachimura, which is completely inferior to last year's Western Finals, the offensive end is not resolute, the simple ball is repeatedly lost, and the defensive end is even more disastrous, the pace is slow, and the reaction is slow.
2, Reaves is a double-edged sword, it's good to find a feel on the offensive end, once it can't be opened, the defensive end is for nothing, and it can't match any of the Nuggets' starting five at all, and with such a defensive hole, the Lakers still have a Russell;
3. The bench is not strong enough, in the first two games, the Lakers bench only Prince can score, this game is slightly better, Dinwiddie, Prince, Vincent combined to score 19 points, but also spent 19 shots, including a total of 8 three-point 1.
In the history of the NBA, there have been 151 times when they were 3-0 down, and no team has completed the comeback, and only 4 times have dragged them into the tiebreaker, including only 1 in the past 20 years, that is, the Celtics in the Eastern Conference last year.
It is worth mentioning that this is also the first time in James' career that he has faced a 0-3 deficit in the first round - although James is always creating miracles, but falling behind 0-3 is basically an early goodbye.
In fact, there is only one suspense in this series: Will the Nuggets sweep?
In this G3 game, Murray made 1 of 6 three-pointers, Pope made 1 of 5 three-pointers, and the Nuggets made 5 of 28 three-pointers, and there were 13 turnovers.
So do the Lakers have any other tricks? With Ham's ability, I'm afraid it's gone, oh yes, there is still a trick that can be used - the next game, maybe James will be seen playing the full 48 minutes.