The most watched in the Western Conference playoffs is the series between the Lakers and the Nuggets, and the first-place Thunder and the eighth-place Pelicans are not paid attention to at all. The series is currently 3-0, and the Thunder have a big lead, and if nothing else, the Thunder will beat the Pelicans 4-0 or 4-1 to advance easily. In the G3 contest between the two sides, the Pelicans were already exhausted, and they couldn't resist the Thunder's offense at all, and they couldn't defend it, because they couldn't prevent it, and the Pelicans had to withdraw their few offensive weapons: Valanciunas. This made the Pelicans' use of troops even more stretched, and they couldn't beat them at all.
Because the star Zion was injured in the play-off game against the Lakers, the Pelicans' regular interior players are only Valanciunas and Nance Jr. The characteristics of these two players are very distinct, and to be precise, the shortcomings are obvious. Valanciunas has a good attack, but the defense pulls the hips, is a traditional inside, has good footsteps under the basket, but because of the bulky body, the defensive end can't prevent blocking and dismantling, and can't follow the outside line to defend big and small, the pace is too slow, so, in this game, in the face of the continuous impact of the Thunder's mobile interior Holmgren, Valanciunas was tired and was blown up, and the Pelican coach couldn't hold on, so he decisively adjusted, removed Valanciunas, and played a small lineup.
Valanciunas played just 11 minutes in the do-or-die battle in G3, shooting 3-of-4 and finishing with seven points and four rebounds. And Holmgren, the rookie of the Thunder team, played 33 minutes in the game, shot 2 of 8, scored 6 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 4 blocks, and the shooting efficiency was not high, but the defensive end was really positive, and the effect was good, sending 4 blocks, the highest in the game. According to statistics, Holmgren made a total of 11 blocks in the first three games of this series, exceeding the number of blocks on the Pelicans' entire team!
11 hats in three games!The 211cm center was abandoned, the Lakers missed a good opportunity, and they couldn't even guard him with thick eyebrows! In fact, it is a pity that the Pelicans this year, the lineup configuration is very average, and it is Zion who has brought them to a height that does not belong to them. Without Zion, the Pelicans would be a team on the fringes of the playoffs. The last play-off game against the Kings was actually quite accidental. So, looking back now, the Pelicans lost to the Lakers in the first play-off game, Zion scored 40 points under the defense of thick eyebrows, and finally fought until he was injured and left the court, but he didn't win the game, which shows that a win-win game, how strong the Lakers are, and the Lakers have too much experience in fighting this kind of life-and-death battle. The Lakers won the championship in this year's mid-season tournament, which is a good example, and now the Lakers are down 0-3 and G4 is in desperate situations, which is also a big example.
For the Pelicans, the most important thing for them right now is for G4 to try for a win at home and avoid being swept. And for the Lakers, they beat the Pelicans in the playoffs this year, and now it looks like it's really a lose-lose game with no winners. The Pelicans' loss of Zion basically means that the first round is out, and the Lakers go to play the Nuggets, the gap between the strength of the two sides is too big, and it is almost impossible for the Lakers to "let three chase four", although G4 won, but G5 is going to Denver to play the plateau home, the opponent can no longer be lightly defeated, and the Lakers are difficult to play. Imagine, if the Lakers lost to the Pelicans in the play-offs, let the Pelicans touch the Nuggets, go to the Thunder themselves, and Zion was not injured, then the Lakers faced the young Thunder, the Lakers have Davis, an absolute strong point, Holmgren should not be an opponent with thick eyebrows, plus the old and strong James, the probability of the Lakers completing the black eight in the first round is very high.
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