We often say that the playoffs are the litmus test for a star. Let's say Joel Embiid, the MVP player of the regular season, who was a big hit in the regular season. The scoring performance of 40+ at every turn has attracted many fans to appreciate. Embiid even had a 70+ scoring feast in a single game, but he was never recognized by the league, and to a large extent he didn't prove himself in the playoffs.
Partnered with Harden last year, but was eliminated by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Harden once bluntly pointed out that Embiid's style of play will not win the championship and will hurt the team. The same is true this year, when Embiid was eliminated in the first round by the Knicks, and Embiid has been stagnant for many years.
In addition to Embiid, Lao Zhan and thick eyebrows led the Lakers and Nuggets to fight, and they did their best to win a game against the defending champions. In all five games of the series, the Lakers have had a lead, and two of them have been killed, which is regrettable at the time. How strong is the defending champion Nuggets? The Lakers can't try it, so what about the Timberwolves?
The battle of Tianwang Mountain was thought to be a night when Mars hit the earth with a little bit of force, and the Nuggets beat the Timberwolves, who ranked first in the league in defensive efficiency. At the end of the game, the Nuggets beat the Timberwolves 113-97 to reach as many as 16 points.
After this game, the Nuggets have a record of 7 wins and 3 losses in the first 10 games of the playoffs. At the same time, on the premise of winning 2 home games by the Timberwolves first, they chased 3 points in a row, and they are currently leading 3-2 and have won the match point. It is worth mentioning that in the playoffs last season, the Nuggets' first 10 games were 7-3 as they were this year. Last year, they defeated the Timberwolves 4-1 in the first round, 3-2 the Suns in the first five games of the second round, and finally won the championship 16-4.
The Nuggets' comeback in this series is largely due to Nikola Jokic's strong performance. After winning the MVP, it has become a good story for Mr. about to win the MVP 3 times in 4 years. In history, there has never been such a strong performance of the second round show, and Mr. Yue can be said to be unprecedented, and it is difficult to have a future come.
So far in the playoffs, Mr. Yoo has played in 10 games, averaging 28.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game. In the battle of Tianwang Mountain, Mr. Yoo played 41 minutes, shooting 15 of 22 from the field, including 2 of 3 three-pointers and 8 of 9 free throws, and scored 40 points, 7 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
In this game, Mr. Yoo helped the Nuggets score a total of 70 points through assists and scoring, while at the same time there were no turnovers. It also set the first player in NBA playoff history with 70 points and zero turnovers. The last player to come close to such a performance was back in the 2018 Rockets, when Paul scored 41 points, 10 assists and 0 turnovers in the G5 game against the Jazz, and created 64 points with assists and points.
After the game, Timberwolves coach Finch talked about Jokic's performance, and although he was an opponent, he still did not hesitate to praise: "He received the MVP trophy today, played the best player in the world, and we can't do anything about him. ”
The Nuggets reporter posted: "Facing Gobert, the NBA's four-time best defensive player, Jokic played one of the best performances of his career, he is already the next generation of the league's face, Jordan among centers. ”
Judging from the performance of the Timberwolves in this series, Mr. Yoo is still conservative in playing the Lakers. The defending champions are unfathomable, and the Lakers are not ashamed to lose to them.