The season that belongs to the Lakers is over.
In the first round of G5, the Lakers lost to the Nuggets 106-108 away, and lost to the opponent 1-4.
Needless to say, the Lakers still led at halftime, and then were caught up by the Nuggets in the third quarter, and in the last 8 minutes of the fourth quarter, the difference between the two teams was only 2 points at most, which was enough to see how suffocating this game was.
In the final moments, Murray, who had previously beaten the Lakers at the G2 whistle, was the hero again, first hitting a key three-pointer, and then killing the Lakers with a pull-up 3.6 seconds left.
Jamal Murray's performance in this round of the series, to be honest, is not particularly good, in the previous four games, although he had a world famous painting with a whistle shot, and he also averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game, but the efficiency was very poor, shooting 38.0% from the field, 20.8% from three-point range, and only 44.0% from the field.
This G5 is the epitome of the first four games, Murray scored 20 points in the first three quarters of 8 of 19 and 3 of 8 three-pointers, but in the crucial fourth quarter, Murray stepped up and scored 12 points and 4 assists in a single quarter of 5 of 9, including the final mid-range shot.
Of course, the absolute core of the Nuggets is still Jokic, Jokic played 41 minutes in this game, shot 12 of 21, scored 25 points, 20 rebounds and 9 assists, just 1 assist and a big triple-double.
And, the other three big men of the Nuggets:
- Porter Jr., 8-of-12 shooting, 5-of-7 three-pointers, 26 points and 4 rebounds, Porter Jr. did not pull a game in this series, averaging 22.8 points per game, including a total of 20 of 41 three-pointers, which is outrageous
- Gordon, shot 3-of-7, got 7 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, and the score was not as explosive as G3's 29 points in a single game, but Gordon grabbed 5 frontcourt rebounds, including the key front board that was laid for Murray before the last minute
- Pope, shot 2-of-10 from the field and 1-of-6 from three-point range, scoring only 5 points, but Pope's only three-pointer also came from a key moment in the fourth quarter, a real big heart
Let's talk about the Lakers, it's a real pity.
In this round of the series, the two teams definitely have a difference in strength, but it is not as huge as 4-1, otherwise the Lakers would not have been able to lead at halftime for 5 consecutive games and a total lead of more than 70%, of which 2 games were still won by shutouts.
The two cores of the Lakers, James and Thick Eyebrows, did their best:
- James, averaging 27.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game, shooting 56.6%/38.5%/73.9%
- Thick eyebrows, averaging 27.8 points, 15.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, shooting 63.4% from the field
In five games, Zhan Mei did not pull a game, among which G5, thick eyebrows injured his left shoulder and insisted on playing, James fell and did not want to get off the court, it can be seen that the two really want to bring the series back to Los Angeles, but unfortunately they did not get their wish.
However, the Lakers do have shortcomings, not that major rotations such as Russell and Reaves are unstable, after all, even the Nuggets can't guarantee that every role player can perform consistently every game - well, probably except for Porter Jr.
The biggest gap between the two teams is in fitness, once in the second half, the Lakers' offensive and defensive levels will all decline, which is especially obvious in James and thick eyebrows - no way, James is 39 years old, and his strength sometimes really makes people forget that this is his 21st season.
It is worth mentioning that just after the Lakers were out, Shams immediately revealed three pieces of heavy news:
1. After Murray's G2 defeat of the Lakers, there are strong indications within the Lakers that Ham is seen as the person with the most responsibility, and his future with the Lakers is in serious danger due to his poor record, and some sources say that Ham is unlikely to return to the Lakers in the new season.
2. A source with knowledge of James' thoughts said that after finishing his 21st NBA season, James is expected to play two more seasons, and it needs to be said that the 2026 All-Star will be held in Los Angeles
3. James has a player option in the offseason, and the Lakers are willing to provide him with a three-year 164 million max salary contract, in order to keep James, the Lakers may use draft picks to select Bronny to realize James' dream of being on the same stage as father and son
Ham is out of class, the Lakers' day is finally about to dawn, from the failure of the regular season test lineup, to the playoff pause, the challenge will not be used, his coaching ability is obvious to all - this is very different from the original Vogel class, Ham simply can't play.
However, Lakers fans should not rejoice too soon, after all, there are not many good coaches on the market now, and the biggest names may be Budenholzer and former coach Vogel, who may be out of class - it is not easy to be a coach with the Lakers, and if you choose the wrong person, it may be worse than Ham.
As for James, the Lakers may do their best to stay, including what Shams said, using the second round or even the end of the first round to select Bronny - objectively speaking, this actually sounds like a bad decision, but the Lakers have chosen Schifino, and the normal selection may not be much better.
The 39-year-old James has delivered a season of "redefining veterans", and although he was unfortunately eliminated in the first round, it is already a very fortunate thing to be able to witness this kind of historic performance. He still has two years left, but maybe only two years left.