Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

"I didn't expect the Nuggets to win."

"Yeah, I thought the Lakers would win another game after returning to their home court. If the series score became 3:0, this round of the series would basically end early. But who knew that the Nuggets actually won in the end."

"The Lakers were clearly a little careless in this game, while the Nuggets treated it as a life-and-death battle, so the results were naturally different."

"That's right, but now the score becomes 1:2. I'm afraid this series..."

Although the Lakers still lead the Nuggets 2:1, this game still made people have more opinions on the direction of this series.

At the same time, the Nuggets' morale was boosted after winning a game.

A group of players are full of confidence in the next game. The Lakers are indeed very strong, but not invincible. As long as they play well enough, they can still beat the Lakers. Winning one game will give them the hope of winning two or three games, or even eliminating the Lakers.

But the Nuggets soon discovered that they were happy a little too early.

......

A day later, the Lakers played at home for Game 4 of the series.

After losing Game 3 to the Nuggets, Coach Scott was furious and the players reflected on themselves and adjusted their mindsets.

So they did not take this game lightly again. Instead, like the Nuggets in the previous game, they gave 100% of their strength from the beginning of the game, both in defense and offense, which was obviously different from the previous game.

Especially on the defensive end, the Lakers demonstrated the league's top defense.

After a few minutes of the first quarter, the Nuggets only scored 1 points.

This forced the Nuggets to call a timeout to adjust, and when the timeout came back, Jokic began to exert his strength on the offensive end.

I have to say that Jokic is still very strong. When he is scoring with all his strength, Lopez can't defend him.

Not only was Lopez unstoppable, but the Lakers' double-teaming and help defense also failed to limit Jokic's scoring because he basically didn't hold the ball. As a center, he didn't dribble much. Usually, after getting the ball, he would either pass it or shoot immediately.

Relying on his excellent shooting, inside footwork and soft touch, he can always put the ball into the basket.

Even when facing Lopez's tough defense, Jokic was not afraid at all. Although he is a big white fat man and seems to move very slowly, he is not weak in confrontation at all. He is not at all inferior to a strong big man like Lopez.

After a few minutes, Jokic scored 7 points alone.

By the second quarter, under the strong defense of the Lakers, the offensive efficiency of other Nuggets players was still not high, and Jokic was still the strongest scoring point of the Nuggets.

He was indeed scoring, but it was a bit difficult and each goal required a lot of effort.

It was only the second quarter, and Jokic was already sweating profusely, and his arms were red from a fight. He had fair skin, and when someone slapped him on the arm, or when he was physically fighting, his skin would easily turn red from the impact, which looked a bit scary.

In fact, this is not a very strange thing.

The intensity of NBA games is very high, especially in the playoffs. For inside players, most of the time they have to engage in physical combat.

It's just that many NBA players are black, and they have dark skin, so they are not as conspicuous as Jokic...

When the first half ended, Jokic had scored 18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

However, the Nuggets were trailing by as much as ten points at this time.

One reason is that apart from him, the performance of other players on the Nuggets was not satisfactory; the other reason is that Zhuang Yu of the Lakers also performed very well. At this time, Zhuang Yu had scored 21 points, plus 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and three steals.

......

After entering the second half, the conditions of other Nuggets players improved.

Murray found his scoring form and relieved some of the pressure on Jokic.

However, the Lakers' offense was more sharp. In addition to Zhuang Yu, Holiday, Lopez, Anderson and Korver also scored.

For a while, the Lakers played in multiple areas.

After a few minutes, the gap between the two sides not only did not narrow, but widened further.

When both sides gradually replaced their main lineups with rotation players, the Lakers still had the upper hand.

Until the end of the third quarter, the Lakers led by 15 points.

Entering the final quarter, the Nuggets still tried to fight back. The pick-and-roll cooperation between Jokic and Murray helped the Nuggets narrow the gap to single digits.

But soon Zhuang Yu stepped up and dominated the game.

First, he scored two consecutive singles, then hit a three-pointer, and also stole the ball from Murray on the defensive end, and then rushed to the frontcourt and performed an explosive one-handed slam dunk.

In a few minutes, Zhuang Yu scored 9 points alone, helping the Lakers to widen the gap to more than 10 points again.

At this point, there was little time left in the game and the Nuggets had no hope of a comeback.

In the end, when the game was over, the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 120:107, successfully won the match point, and changed the score to 3:1.

这场比赛约基奇砍下28分，9篮板,6助攻。但湖人队这边庄宇轰下了32分，外加8个篮板,7次助攻。

......

Although they lost the game and fell behind the Lakers with a big score of 1:3, the Nuggets did not lose confidence.

There is indeed no precedent in NBA history for a comeback after being behind 0:3, but there are still many examples of a team that was behind 1:3 and eventually successfully turned the tables.

For example, in the 2016 Finals, the Cavaliers came back from a 1-3 deficit to defeat the Warriors and win the championship.

Although the current situation is unfavorable to the Nuggets, it is not hopeless.

What's more, they will return to their home court in the next game.

However, the Lakers are naturally determined to win Game 5 of the series, and they don't want any more variables.

So the Lakers treated Game 5 as their last game.

This game attracted the attention of countless fans. On the day of the game, the Nuggets' home court was packed, and many Nuggets fans came to the scene to cheer for them.

What made Nuggets fans depressed was that the Nuggets fell into a disadvantage just after the game started.

Until the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets were always at a disadvantage and lagged behind the Lakers by 1 points.

After entering the second quarter, the Nuggets sent out Jokic early. Under Jokic's leadership, the Nuggets once narrowed the gap to only one point.

At this moment, the Lakers made a substitution, replacing Zhuang Yu.

As soon as Zhuang Yu came on the court, he opened fire. He first took advantage of the opponent's unstable footing, then after reaching the frontcourt, he faced the defender and made a three-pointer.

Just a few dozen seconds later, Zhuang Yu ran back to get the ball, used the cover of his teammates to break free from the defense and shot a three-pointer, which he hit again.

He made two consecutive three-pointers, which made the Nuggets players' scalps tingle.

But it's not over yet.

Immediately afterwards, Zhuang Yu made a series of breakthroughs and shots, plus free throws, and scored another 13 points in the next few minutes, scoring 19 points in a single quarter, helping the Lakers regain their lead.

By the end of the first half, Zhuang Yu had already scored 27 points.

......

In the second half, the Nuggets further strengthened their defense against Zhuang Yu. However, what the Nuggets did not expect was that Lopez suddenly broke out at this time. He first received a pass from Zhuang Yu and hit a three-pointer from the outside, and then grabbed a rebound under the basket and scored on the second attack.

Less than two minutes later, he took the ball in the low post and challenged Jokic. He used his strong body to push Jokic away for a layup and caused a foul by Jokic, making it 2+1.

For a while, the gap between the two sides widened further to double digits.

Now the entire Nuggets team, including the Nuggets fans at the scene, were all depressed.

Although the score difference was widened to double digits again, the Nuggets did not give up.

After all, this game is a life-and-death battle for them. Once they lose this game, they will be eliminated.

In the last quarter, the Nuggets sent out main players such as Jokic and Murray early.

At this point, physical management no longer matters. The Nuggets have already staked everything on the game and are fighting for their life.

However, at this time, it is useless to rely on passion alone. You need strong strength and sufficient playoff experience.

Whether in terms of team strength or playoff experience, the Nuggets are inferior to the Lakers.

In the final few minutes, the Lakers played steadily, while the Nuggets were obviously a little anxious and started throwing three-pointers frantically, but they missed many shots.

As time went by, the game time became less and less, but the score gap between the two sides did not narrow.

"drop......"

When the game ended, the score was fixed at 117:108. The Lakers defeated the Nuggets by 9 points. The score was 4:1 and the Nuggets were eliminated.

Although the Nuggets played very hard in this game, it was not a good performance. Jokic scored 22 points, Murray scored 25 points, and other players also scored points. It seemed that everyone's data seemed to be okay, but the overall shooting percentage was only 4%.

On the Lakers side, Zhuang Yu scored 28 points, Holiday scored 20 points, Lopez scored 18 points and 10 rebounds, Korver scored 10 points, Anderson scored 8 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, and Rose and Clarkson also scored 14 points and 17 points respectively...

This is the true strength of the championship team. The more crucial the game and the more critical the moment, the more stable they tend to be.

At this point, the Lakers vs. Nuggets series came to an end.

On the other hand, the other group in the Western Conference semifinals, the Warriors vs. Rockets, has also played 5 games, with the Warriors leading with a score of 3:2.

In the East, the Bucks defeated the Celtics 4-1 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.

This came as a bit of a surprise to the fans.

You should know that last season, the Celtics made it to the Eastern Conference Finals even without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.

This season, Irving and Hayward were both present, and the Celtics, whose lineup looked even more gorgeous, fell in the Eastern Conference semifinals and lost to the Bucks, and they lost with a big score of 1:4, which was really unexpected.

As for the other group, the Bucks vs. 76ers matchup, four games have been played so far, with the series score at 4:2, and neither side has gained an advantage.