We all know that the Timberwolves and Nuggets will usher in a tiebreaker.
Previously, in G6, the Timberwolves, who fought against the water, gave the defending champion a historic blow, winning by 45 points 115-70 in the whole game, and 70 points in a single game is the lowest score in the history of the Nuggets in the playoffs, and the 45-point difference is the eighth largest point difference in the history of the playoffs, and it is also the largest loss margin in the history of the Nuggets, and it also refreshes the largest loss margin for the defending champion team.
In this epic fiasco, Nuggets second-in-command Jamal Murray had to bear a big pot, he played 33 minutes, shooting 4-of-18 from the field, 2-of-7 from three-point range, and only scored 10 points, which did not help Jokic at all.
As we've said before, Murray played very badly in this series, averaging only 15.7 points and 4.7 assists per game under the focused care of Edwards and McDaniels, shooting 38.2% from the field and 44.7% from the field.
However, Murray wasn't the only one who didn't play well for the Nuggets, as their No. 3 scorer, another top-paid player in addition to Yomu, Porter Jr., also played very badly.
Also take G6 as an example, Porter Jr. played 31 minutes, shot 3 of 9, 1 of 6 three-pointers, only got 8 points and 6 rebounds, and had 2 turnovers, in this game, Murray's plus/minus of -32 was the lowest in the game, and Porter Jr. was the second-to-last low in the game with -28.
It needs to be said that this is not the first time Porter Jr. has played so badly in the series.
Previously, G5 Tianwang Mountain, the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves at home by 15 points, this Jokic received his third MVP trophy, and then handed over 40 points, 7 rebounds, 13 assists and 0 turnovers, Murray also scored 7 of 14, got 16 points and 4 assists;
However, Porter Jr. shot 2-of-10 from the field, 2-of-7 from three-point range, only had 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 turnovers, and his plus/minus was only +4, the lowest starting point for the Nuggets.
Further back, G4 was also won by the Nuggets, Yomu scored 35 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, 19 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, but Porter Jr.'s performance was: 2 of 4 shots, 0 of 2 three-pointers, only 4 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.
In other words, in the past three games, Porter Jr. only scored 4 points, 6 points, and 8 points respectively, adding up to a total of 18 points, what is the concept? Facing the Lakers in the first round, Porter Jr. also scored 19 points in the least game.
This is where the contrast is most obvious.
Facing the Lakers in the first round, Porter Jr. can be said to have played the top salary value, 5 games, he scored 20+ in 4 games, averaged 22.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, shooting 55.3% from the field, 48.8% from three-point range, and 69.8% from the field.
For comparison, Murray shot two shots and averaged 23.6 points per game, but he shot just 40.0 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from three-point range, and 49.8 percent from the field.
After this round of the series, even James couldn't help but laugh and burst out on the show: "Porter Jr. is TMD a laser gun, I don't know what's going on with him, whether he sees the Lakers or sees the golden thing, when he hits us, this bastard doesn't hit iron at all, you can't even interfere with him, he's too tall to see you at all!" ”
James added: "Listen, Jamal [Murray] scored us twice, but if you look at his stats, we've defended Jamal very well, making it difficult for him, I don't know the numbers, but he's shooting maybe more than 30 percent and close to 40 percent in our series, and of course, Jokic is going to play his game, but Porter Jr. was the one who blew us up." ”
However, in the second round, Porter Jr. also pulled.
In the six games that have ended so far, Porter Jr. has averaged only 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, shooting 39.7% from the field, 35.3% from three-point range, and only 53.4% from the field.
In addition to the past three games, before G2, Porter Jr. was only 4 of 12 in the whole game, scoring 9 points - not to mention the first round, in the playoffs last year, Porter Jr. played 20 games, and only 4 games did not score doubles, and in this round of the series alone, Porter Jr. has 4 games that did not score doubles.
Like Murray, Porter Jr. was also heavily defended by the Timberwolves in this round, and he played against McDaniels for 30 minutes and 133 rounds, making only 10 shots in total;
What is surprising is Edwards, facing Huazi, who is 15 cm shorter than himself, Porter Jr. did not take advantage at all, a total of 22 minutes, 96 rounds, adding up to 3 of 16, only 9 points.
In the first round, the main defense of Porter Jr. was Hachimura, who defended Porter Jr. for a total of 26 minutes and 117 rounds, Porter Jr. shot 10 of 18 and 7 of 12 three-pointers, and scored 30 points, 4 assists and 0 turnovers.
On the one hand, you can see how big the gap between the Lakers' outside defense and the Timberwolves is, and on the other hand, if Porter Jr.'s seven-game tie-break is still the same as G4, G5, and G6, then the Nuggets are really dangerous.
Jokic is very strong, but the past many seasons have proved that the Nuggets are not strong enough for Jokic alone, and the really strong Nuggets are when Murray and Porter Jr. feel hot, the next game, win or go home, this will be the biggest test of the Nuggets in the playoffs in the past two years, look forward to the response of Murray and Porter Jr.