bestfiction Chapter 437 The Western Conference Finals Begin
Chapter 437 The Western Conference Finals Begin
Chapter 437 The Western Conference Finals Begin
With the failure of the Clippers and Raptors in the tie-break, the finals of the East and West will be officially held three days later.
The two teams participating in the finals in the Eastern Conference are the Bucks, which have home court advantage, and the Heat, which counterattacked all the way and eliminated the defending champions.
The two teams participating in the Western Conference Finals are the Lakers and Nuggets.
The Nuggets killed the Clippers, the biggest threat to the Lakers, which really made the Lakers breathe a sigh of relief.
The Lakers are not afraid of star groups from other teams, but they are afraid of teams like the Clippers, where ten players on the front line can shoot suddenly.
It is much easier for the Lakers to play the Nuggets than the Clippers, but it does not mean that the Lakers can easily overcome the Nuggets.
None of the teams that have made it to the playoffs can be underestimated.
Before the opening game between the Lakers and the Nuggets, the topic that the media paid the most attention to was the extent of AD's injury.
At the Lakers training ground, Vogel led the players to conduct closed training.
The reason for the closed training is that the Lakers don't want to announce whether Davis can play in the Western Conference Finals.
In fact, Davis has already started training with the team.
With his knee on the immobilized plate, he can move freely.
On May 5, BJ time, the high-profile Western Conference finals finally started.
The Los Angeles Lakers sit at the Staples Center and face the Denver Nuggets who are coming to challenge.
This is the first time the two teams have met in the Western Conference Finals after 09 years in 11.
The last time the two teams met, the Lakers led by Kobe and the Nuggets led by Melon staged an epic hand-to-hand battle.
The 09 Western Conference Finals was also considered by countless fans to be the greatest performance in the Western Conference Finals in the past 20 years.
The TNT Big Three snatched the live broadcast rights of the Lakers.
The Lakers' FMVP player O'Neal, who has won three consecutive championships, will personally explain the Lakers game in this game.
This is the most promising year for the Lakers to win the championship since the Kobe era.
O'Neal can participate in the commentary of this round of the series, he feels very excited.
Not only because of the Lakers, but more importantly, James and Ge Feng.
O'Neill has recently become Ge Feng's fanboy, always bragging about Ge Feng everywhere.
In addition to Ge Feng, James was also O'Neal's teammate back then.
After the Sharks traveled east, they joined forces with the Cavaliers and James, but unfortunately, the combination of the Sharks and the Little Emperor did not cross the mountain of the Celtics.
In the first quarter of the game between the Lakers and the Nuggets, the Nuggets, who had just counterattacked the Clippers 1-3, looked full of vitality.
Davis officially played in the Western Conference Finals.
But maybe Davis' knee injury is still not healed. He didn't dare to jump too much in the first quarter, and he only scored a three-pointer to get 3 points and 3 rebounds.
The Nuggets players dared to shoot in the first quarter.
Grant's throw, Middleton shot a three-pointer, asked the teacher to make a three-step layup, and Murray made a three-pointer at the buzzer.
After the first quarter, the Nuggets took the initiative on the bright side, leading the Lakers by two points 38 to 36.
After the first quarter, the scores of both sides rushed to 40 points.
In the first game of the Western Conference Finals, the two teams changed their habit of focusing on defense and focused all their attention on offense.
In the second quarter of the game, Vogel began to emphasize defense.
In order for Davis to gradually regain the feeling of the game, Vogel did not let Davis off the field, but let Warcraft play instead of McGee.
This decision has officially become a nightmare for the Nuggets.
Just in the second quarter, Howard contributed 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals for the team.
On the defensive end, Howard obviously suppressed the teacher Jokicyo who was in the limelight.
As long as Howard is on the court, Jokic is not so comfortable playing.
In the end, after the game was over, Howard scored 16 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks in just 2 minutes of playing.
On the offensive end, Howard made 4 of 3 shots. He really played an overwhelming role in the Nuggets' inside line in this game.
In many cases, the Nuggets can only pay for fouls to prevent Howard from scoring.
With Howard's outstanding performance, the Lakers beat the Nuggets in just three quarters, leading the score 103 to 79.
The fourth quarter of the game has entered garbage time.
The Lakers are not the Clippers. With Ge Feng in charge, it is impossible for the Nuggets to comeback.
In the end, the Nuggets had no choice but to raise the white flag early and surrender their guns.
In the second game of the playoffs, Vogel made a big announcement: In view of Howard's excellent performance against the Nuggets in the first game, Howard is ready to start in G2.
Howard was very excited about this. In an interview with reporters, he said: "Whether I start or not, whether I play 1 minute or 20 minutes, I will do my best to contribute to the Lakers."
Kobe, Ge Feng, and James were very relieved to hear Warcraft's statement.
It's a pity, if Howard had this awareness long ago, his achievements may not necessarily be inferior to James.
In G2, Howard continued his wonderful performance in the first game, helping the Lakers make another victory with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Nuggets lost two games in a row. With the spirit of fighting to the death, the Nuggets returned to their home court.
In the Western Conference semifinals, the Nuggets started a crazy counterattack on their home court.
Many fans are eagerly discussing whether the Lakers will be overturned by the Nuggets, but anyone who knows the ball knows that the possibility of the Nuggets overturning the Lakers is almost zero.
NBA teams have mutual restraint in a certain sense.
When the Nuggets and Clippers played against each other in the regular season, the Nuggets had an absolute advantage of 2 wins and 1 loss.
From the perspective of the lineup, the Nuggets' lineup is relatively restrained against the Clippers, who are weak inside.
But an NBA team is also a food chain.
The Nuggets beat the Clippers, and the Clippers also beat the Lakers.
Only Ge Feng is available for the Lakers forward, and the Lakers still rely heavily on the performance of James and Davis.
Not so with the Clippers.
The Clippers are all soldiers, whether it is Leonard, George, or the veteran Clippers players Harrell, Beverin, Zubac, and Louis, all have the ability to actively attack the frame.
Although the Lakers got the first winning percentage in history with 73 wins in the regular season, they only faced the Clippers, and the Lakers lost 4 of the 3 games in the same division.
From the regular season, it can be seen that some teams restrain each other.
The third game between the Lakers and the Nuggets started at the Nuggets' home court.
After being dominated by Warcraft for 2 consecutive games, Jokic finally found a way to fight against Warcraft.
This time Jokic no longer uses slow inside moves like playing against the Clippers to force the Clippers, who are not strong inside.
On the contrary, Jokic began to lead his teammates to speed up, and overwhelmed the Lakers with the spirit of immortality.
Murray, Grant and Jokic all scored 20+, shooting 58%+.
Among them, Murray contributed 12 assists, setting a career playoff record and becoming the number one contributor to the Nuggets' victory today.
He played very rhythmically throughout the game today. He selflessly assisted his teammates in the first half, assisted up to 11 times in the first three quarters, and opened the scoring mode in the second half, ending the last hope of the Lakers for a comeback.
(End of this chapter)