On April 26, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued. After the first two rounds of the first-round series, there were a total of 5 groups of 2-0 matchups, including the Cavaliers + Knicks in the East, and the Timberwolves + Thunder + Nuggets in the West. In the third round of today's game, the Cavaliers lost to the Magic by 38 points away and had no way to fight back, and the Knicks collapsed in the third quarter and were finally pulled back by the 76ers. In the first two meetings between the two teams, the Lakers lost by 11 points in one game and led by 20 points in the other game, and were reversed by the Nuggets + Murray shot to kill. The Zhan Mei combination has a stable data contribution of about 60 points, and Russell is gradually picking up, but he can't win against the Nuggets, and he has suffered 10 consecutive defeats in the face of the Nuggets! The most embarrassing thing is that the Lakers are the lowest probability of advancing to the second round among the 16 teams in 8 groups, with only an 8.0% chance.
After the last loss, the thick eyebrows complained after the game that for a while they didn't know what they should do on both offensive and defensive ends. Indeed, G1 and G2, the thick eyebrows are basically high and low, especially in the fourth quarter, basically can't touch the ball, and directly target coach Hamm. However, according to the US media, the information he has shows that the Lakers are uneasy and disappointed with the attitude of thick eyebrows. disappointed with the thick eyebrows, who averaged 32 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks per game in the playoffs, I really feel that there is something wrong with the Lakers' internal values. James, on the other hand, is confident that when he returns home, he knows that the fans can bring energy to the team, and that the replay has proved that the Nuggets are not unbreakable. James came to the arena 4 hours early, and before the game, the Lakers media confirmed that Wood and Vanderbilt, who had been preparing for the return of G3, continued to miss the game and did not have an accurate return time.
Lakers starters: Russell + Reaves + Hachimura + James + Davis, Nuggets starters: Murray + Pope + Porter + Gordon + Jokic. At the beginning of the game, the Lakers were full of firepower, the thick eyebrows continued to dunk down, and James stole the tomahawk and dunked, hitting an 8-0 climax. After Porter's three-pointer stopped the bleeding, the thick eyebrows continued to attack Jokic, James counterattacked, and the Lakers widened the difference. In the middle of the section, Jokic ate cakes + made fouls, and at the same time responded to Gordon's violent dunk, fortunately, Hachimura responded with three points in time, James also felt hot, and at the end of the quarter, Dinwiddie and Reaves took turns to kill, and after the first quarter, the Lakers led the Nuggets 33-23. Back in the second quarter, Reeves and Dinwiddie took turns to play singles, Murray led the team to bite the score, Reeves couldn't prevent Murray, but fortunately, the thick eyebrows in the middle supported the team's offense.
After James came back in the second half, he continued to sit with his back to play, but Murray and Porter made consecutive dry jumpers, Jokic went down and dunked, and James and Reaves scored consecutive points at the end of the quarter, and the Lakers led the Nuggets 53-49 at halftime. James had 14 points and 4 assists in the first half, thick eyebrows 16 points and 7 rebounds, Reaves 10 points, and Russell 0 points! Although the Lakers were still leading, the momentum was reversed by the Nuggets. At the beginning of the third quarter, Murray made a layup + Porter three-pointer, and the Nuggets easily overtook him! In the second half, James and thick eyebrows led the team to chase points, but Reggie responded with three points + Jokic hit a mid-range shot. At the end of the third quarter, the Nuggets led the Lakers 83-75. The Lakers were boiled frogs in warm water again, the key is that they are powerless to resist!
In the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, Porter and Watson made unreasonable pull-out jumpers, and the thick eyebrows were slightly lonely and the basket hit five, and James was still in the backcourt at this time! Porter dunked easily, Murray made a kill, and James dribbled out of bounds inexplicably, and then he didn't know what to complain about. James hit a three-pointer in the middle of the game, but Porter and Jokic scored back-to-back points to seal the win. After that, although the Lakers players struggled to chase points, the game lost suspense, and finally the Nuggets defeated the Lakers again 112-105, leading the Lakers 3-0 and getting the first round of the playoffs series point!
Lakers statistics, James 26 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, Davis 33 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists, Reaves 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals, Dinwiddie 8 points and 3 assists, Prince 7 points and 2 assists, Hachimura 5 points and 2 rebounds. Nuggets statistics, Jokic 24 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists, Murray 22 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists, Gordon 29 points and 15 rebounds, Porter 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.
Throughout the game, to tell the truth, James had a big problem defending today! Because of Russell and Reaves' defensive shortcomings, James has been thinking about helping defense, but the opposite Gordon is crazy, Jokic + Murray simple blocking and high positioning, Gordon only needs to cut to the basket, all kinds of easy scoring, James is too busy to take care of himself. The thick eyebrows were impeccable at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, but today Russell was completely sluggish, and he was hesitating in the big open space in the second half, and he lost his confidence a little. This defeat means that the Lakers have completely lost hope of qualifying, and they played worse than the previous two games, just hoping that the Lakers can get back a game in the next game and not be swept out of the game 4-0 again!