NBA: I am the card dealer

But a three-game winning streak is obviously not enough. The Lakers' current record is 16 wins and 26 losses, which is still one game behind the defeated Trail Blazers.

Although the Portland Trail Blazers lost, they still have a record of 16 wins and 24 losses. They have lost two games less and are still firmly ahead of the Lakers.

With Xue Liancheng back, after these days of hard work, the Lakers are still fourth from the bottom in the Western Conference, only rising one spot.

However, considering the Lakers' unstoppable momentum, it still has a certain deterrent effect.

And ranked ahead of the Lakers are the Denver Nuggets. They are now 14 wins and 23 losses, and their record is not particularly good. They only win half a game more than the Lakers.

The New Orleans Pelicans have 15 wins and 24 losses, which is only half a game more than the Lakers.

I believe it won’t be a big problem to surpass them in the near future.

And the ninth place is still the Trail Blazers, so there is no need to look ahead.

The eighth place is still the Sacramento Kings. Their current record is 16 wins and 22 losses, four fewer games than the Lakers. Converted into a win difference, there are still two games left.

In other words, after this three-game winning streak, although the Lakers' ranking has not improved by leaps and bounds, they have actually narrowed the distance between them and the top eight.

At least it's not as out of reach as before.

The difference between two wins is not particularly big now. With the Lakers' current momentum and ferocious offense, it does not seem to be a big problem to reach the top eight this season.

The seventh place in the Western Conference is 21 wins and 19 losses, which is a bit far behind the Lakers, with a full 6 wins difference.

In other words, while the Lakers will win six more games than the Grizzlies, the Grizzlies will lose six more games.

This gap is still relatively large, and currently, it is not easy.

of course.

There is still hope.

And the Lakers don't have the slightest capital to relax.

Because the Phoenix Suns, who are chasing the Lakers, are actually not far behind. The current record is 12 wins and 26 losses, which means they have played four fewer games and are only two games away from the Lakers.

The Minnesota Timberwolves also have a record of 12 wins and 26 losses, exactly the same as the Suns, so they are really not that far away from the Lakers.

The Dallas Mavericks have a record of 11 wins and 27 losses. Although they are at the bottom of the Western Conference, they are only 2.5 games away from the Lakers. There is no room for them to be careless.

What's more.

Their next schedule is not easy. In the next two consecutive away games, they will first go to San Antonio to challenge the Spurs, and then they will have a fierce battle with the Clippers, their strong rival in the same city. They accidentally lost two games in a row.

result……

As expected.

On January 1, the Lakers lost to the Spurs 12:104 in San Antonio.

Xue Liancheng only played for 21 minutes, and in the end he had no choice but to end the game early.

This was a 30-point loss even after he used all his % hit skills.

If he hadn't activated the 100% hit skill, it's unimaginable how he would have lost in the end.

Xue Liancheng only took 11 shots in this game and hit 8 goals. The efficiency was not bad, and he scored a total of 23 points. However, the Spurs' passing and cutting cooperation was even more crazy, and they couldn't stop it at all.

Coupled with the fact that George once again performed undercover drama, he only scored 19 points on 7 of 17 shots. The low efficiency was simply eye-catching.

Randall was pretty good, and his cooperation with Xue Liancheng was getting better and better. He made 13 of 8 shots and scored 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

He is one of the few players on the Lakers who has performed brilliantly.

Courtney Lee made 5 of 1 and only scored 3 points. His offensive performance was hard to describe, and his defensive power also lost its luster in the Spurs' smooth offense.

Zubac started as a pseudo-starter and only played for more than ten minutes. He scored 7 points on 4-of-8 shots, which is already amazing.

On the bench, Clarkson was powerful, scoring 11 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

James Johnson was not very efficient either, scoring only 16 points on 7 of 15 shots. Marvin Williams was even worse, making 6 of 0 shots and only scoring 2 points on free throws.

Everyone else is stuck.

It was actually foreseeable that the Lakers would lose this game.

After all, the Spurs rank second in the Western Conference, with a terrifying record of 30 wins and 8 losses, which is simply not comparable to the Lakers.

Even if Xue Liancheng comes back, the Lakers have little chance of defeating the Spurs, because Xue Liancheng is still limited to playing time and has not reached his best condition.

You know, Xue Liancheng averaged 31+13+7 per game last season, but such terrifying data is a routine operation.

In the past few games since his comeback, although he has played very fiercely, 25+10 is commonplace.

But this is qualitatively different from 31+13+7. Even if Xue Liancheng's playing time is decreasing, his data has shrunk too much, and his dominance is obviously declining.

Coupled with team integration issues, tactical reorganization issues, tacit cooperation issues, lineup deployment issues, etc., the current Lakers have too many flaws. How can they be favored by the public if they fight to the death with the mature and complete Spurs?

The Spurs' offensive and defensive cooperation has truly reached its peak. It is very silky, very smooth, and has an unstoppable force.

Leonard made 13 of 10 shots and scored 31 points, completely beating George.

Gasol burst into his third spring, scoring 9 points, 9 rebounds and 22 assists on 9-of-6 shooting. Now Gasol is not only good at attacking, he is also good at supporting and central work, sorting out the Spurs' offense in an orderly manner.

Aldridge scored 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting, which looks average, but in fact he only lasted minutes in this game. Coupled with the arrival of Gasol, his offensive position was shared, causing his data to further decline. .

But there is no doubt that Aldridge is still the top power forward in the league. No one dares to deny this, and his deterrence is still there.

Parker made 10 of 6 shots and scored 13 points. Lian Po is old and can still make a living...

Jonathan Simmons scored 8 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

Dejounte Murray also scored 5 points on 3 of 10 shots.

Mills also had 3 points on 2 of 7 shots.

Overall, the Spurs have a lot of players to play with, good chemical reaction, and stable core and tactics, which makes them as strong as they are today.

Although they lost miserably, the Lakers had no time to wallow in the shadow of failure and feel sorry for themselves. They flew back to Los Angeles non-stop to prepare to face their next powerful enemy, the Clippers, their brothers from the same city.

The media predicted before the game that this would be a tough battle.

The obvious reason is that the Clippers' current record is still excellent. As of the game, they have 27 wins and 14 losses, standing proudly at the top of the Western Conference.

Paul can still play and is one of the best point guards in the league.

Griffin is also difficult to deal with. Although he has a tendency to become a power forward, he is still one of the top power forwards in the league.

Jordan's frame protection is also very sharp, and Redick's three-pointers are still so accurate.

So even if Xue Liancheng comes back, the public still believes that the Clippers can rely on hard work to survive the Lakers.

result.

It was really unfortunate.

After four quarters of fierce battle, the Lakers lost the game 109:113 in the final stage.

Xue Liancheng's magic is no longer there.

Mainly because of his 100% hit ability, which was completely destroyed by him one minute before the end.