On April 30, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, and after more than one week of fierce exchanges, the situation in the first round of the NBA playoffs was basically settled. In the East, the Celtics led the Heat to get the match point, the Knicks led the 76ers to get the match point, and the Pacers led the Bucks to get the match point, and only the Cavaliers and Magic played 2-2. On the Western side, the Clippers and the Mavericks drew 2-2, and yesterday the Suns were swept out of the game by the Timberwolves 4-0, and today the Pelicans were swept out by the Thunder! According to American media statistics, in the first four games of the series, the Lakers led by 136.5 minutes, but the Nuggets led by only 42 minutes, and the Nuggets led 3-1. The answer is simple, because in the third and fourth quarters, Zhan Mei's physical fitness declined.
What followed was an easy overturn for the Lakers by the Nuggets. The defending champion Nuggets are not that scary, but James is really old, and the thick eyebrows often go high and low, which is a bottleneck that the Lakers will find difficult to overcome. And the Nuggets are not unbreakable, Murray, who suffered a strained left calf before, was still wearing thick bandages and protective gear during pre-game training, with the analysis of medical experts, this injury is very difficult to control, and it is easy to deteriorate, but Murray insists on playing! In addition, according to the probability prediction given by the American media "BR", the probability of the Nuggets advancing is as high as 95.1%, and the Lakers only have 4.9% left. Specific to this game, the Lakers have a winning rate of 33%, and the Nuggets have a 67%! James and thick eyebrows have played a stable output of about 60 points in 4 consecutive games, and statistics show that James averaged 33.6 points per game in his career when facing eliminated games, ranking first in history!
Nuggets starters: Murray + Pope + Porter + Gordon + Jokic; Lakers starters: Russell + Reaves + Hachimura + James + thick eyebrows. At the beginning of the game, Murray scored 6 points on the inside and outside shots, and after Hachimura's three-point shot stopped the bleeding, Reaves fought hard for a layup, and then James counterattacked to feed the cake and thick eyebrows, and combined Reeves to stop the Nuggets! Back in the second quarter, after Russell scored a layup, Porter and Reggie rained three-pointers! At the critical moment, Russell continued to shoot three-pointers, and then James bulldozer layup, and the Lakers finally overtook the score!
In the middle of the thick eyebrows, Jokic made a strong attack, and then smashed the dunk with one arm, and the Lakers stopped the Nuggets again! In the second half, Porter and Murray blossomed inside and out, Reaves and Hachimura felt hot, and with James's three-point shot, the Lakers opened up the gap again. Porter and Murray scored four straight points at the end of the quarter, and Gordon hit a three-pointer in the open position to give the Lakers a 53-50 lead over the Nuggets at halftime. In the first half, James had 10 points, 7 assists and 3 steals, Bush 16 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals, Murray 16 points, Porter 11 points, and Jokic 8 points and 11 rebounds. Back in the third quarter, Hachimura hit an open three-pointer, James passed Porter and dunked hard, and after Porter and Gordon stopped the bleeding, Russell's three-pointer stopped the Nuggets again. But in the second half, the Nuggets played a climax: Jokic's three-point shot + Pope and Porter's layup + Porter's three-pointer, Murray's difficult pull rod scored, and a wave of 14-3 overtook the Lakers!
The house leak happened to rain overnight, and the thick eyebrow's left shoulder was affected by the injury and returned directly to the locker room! James also suffered a broken foot and signaled to continue playing, and the Lakers trailed the Nuggets 79-81 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, Murray and Watson hit three-pointers, and the thick eyebrows came back to continue to make kills + James continued to score three points. In the middle of the game, Pope and Porter continued to rain three-pointers, and the Lakers relied on Reaves' singles to tie the score. In the last 3 minutes, the Lakers did not pause, Jokic threw + made a basket, Reaves returned three points, James threw and scored, Murray immediately hit a three-pointer! In the last 1 minute, after James hit two free throws to tie the game, Murray rode a horse and shot an arrow again! The Lakers did not pause, Prince hit a three-point iron from a long distance, and finally the Nuggets defeated the Lakers 108-106, Murray killed, and the Lakers were 1-4 regrettably!
Nuggets statistics, Jokic 25 points, 20 rebounds and 9 assists, Porter 26 points and 4 rebounds, Murray 32 points and 7 assists, Gordon 7 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, Pope 5 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Lakers statistics, James 30 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists and 4 steals, thick eyebrows 17 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists, Reaves 19 points, 4 assists and 3 steals, Russell 14 points and 6 assists, Hachimura 15 points and 5 rebounds.
Throughout the game, the Lakers really tried their best. James fought hard for 44 minutes, and he couldn't get out of the line of fire with a slight injury after breaking his foot; he had been on the court for a long, long time because of the shoulder injury of the thick eyebrows, until he couldn't hold on in the third quarter, and he came back quickly in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers ran out of all the bullets! It can only be said that Murray's performance at the critical moment was unreasonable, watching him limp without the ball, and immediately turning into a superstar after getting the ball, the Lakers really couldn't stop it. The Nuggets and Timberwolves officially met in the Western Conference semifinals, and then it's up to the Timberwolves Twin Towers vs Jokic, and Edwards vs. Murray!