Murray once again killed the Lakers with a mid-range shot, and this time, it was to send them home directly, ending the suspense of the series.
As in the past few games, the Lakers won the first half again, but unfortunately failed to withstand the Nuggets' counterattack at the critical moment. Although James withstood the pressure and made 2 free throws to tie the score in the end, he couldn't resist Murray, who was fighting with an injury, and made another shot.
The 39-year-old James did his best in this game, contributing 32 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists and 4 steals, and in the unfavorable situation of limited play after the thick eyebrow injury, he hit key 3-pointers many times, and also hit the last 2 free throws, but Lady Luck was on the side of the Nuggets again, and James left the court in a helpless and convincing way.
After this game, in addition to the Lakers out, the more important point is that the NBA has changed a lot, an era is over, and a new era has arrived.
After James is eliminated, the NBA will usher in a second-round series without James, Durant and Curry for the first time in nearly 19 years.
James' team was eliminated by the Nuggets 1-4 in the first round, Durant's team was swept 0-4 by the Timberwolves in the first round, and Curry's team fell in the play-in tournament. As the signature players of the league in the past few years, it is embarrassing that these three people missed the second round of the playoffs at the same time, but it also means that the league is about to enter a new era.
In the regular season this season, the Celtics led by Tatum and Brown became the first in the league, and the Knicks, Bucks and Cavaliers, who were also in their prime, ranked second to fourth in the East.
In the West, Alexander led the young Thunder to the bottom and became the first in the West, the defending champion Nuggets, who are at the peak of their core, ranked second, and the Timberwolves led by Edwards ranked third. The Clippers, who struggled to defend fourth in the West, kept the last glory of the veteran stars.
On the other hand, the Suns retained sixth place in the final game, the Lakers rushed to seventh through the play-offs, and the Warriors failed to cross the play-in tournament.
In this season's rankings, it is not difficult to see that the league has begun to push the back waves of the Yangtze River to push the front waves, and there is a great momentum to cover up the front waves.
In fact, looking at Janduku's age, it is normal for people to be slowly replaced by rising stars, after all, the years are urging people to get old, and there must always be new people who stand up in order for this alliance to continue to thrive. But what is really worrying is that when Janduku begins to fade out of the league, which rising stars can replace them to become the face of the league, and at the same time bring new huge traffic to the entire NBA?
Because among these young players at present, we don't see a new generation of new people beating the old people!
After this game, the well-known commentator Yang Yi commented, "Lao Zhan left standing, after the first round of the playoffs, Zhan Duku's team has been eliminated, and the NBA playoffs this season will no longer be trafficked." ”
Yang Yi can be said to be heart-wrenching, when the playoffs are without Zhan Duku, how many people will pay attention? How many people are willing to get up in the early hours of the morning to watch the game, and then continue to go to work with the fatigue of staying up late?
Of course, the Clippers, where Harden is located, will be the flow of the rest of the game, but how long will the Clippers go?