On May 21, Beijing time, the third game of the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers fell into a 0-3 desperate situation. Throughout the game, Murray made 15 of 29 shots and 5 of 11 three-pointers. He scored 37 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, breaking the record. The crazier he is, the worse Russell is. The latter made 1 of 8 shots, 1 of 6 three-pointers, only 3 points and 4 assists, and was abandoned in 20 minutes of playing.
The Lakers had no choice but to fight back, but they were blown away by the Nuggets in the first quarter. Murray made 7 of 10 shots in a single quarter. With Jokic scoring no points, the Nuggets still led the Lakers by 12 points.
The Lakers who gave it a go narrowed the point difference in the second quarter, but they still couldn’t guard Murray. Murray re-entered the court and hit a three-pointer as soon as he came up, and then he hit a three-pointer again. Facing the thick eyebrows, Murray made a three-pointer and had no solution at all.
Throughout the first half, Murray played 21 minutes, made 13 of 20 shots, 4 of 8 three-pointers, scored 30 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Scored 53 points, the highest record in the playoffs in the past 25 years. 2. Since 1997, the third player to score 30 points or more in the half of the playoffs against the Lakers, the other two are Iverson (30 points in 2001) and Booker (33 points in 2021) point). 3. In a single series against the Lakers, he scored 30+ in three consecutive games, becoming the fifth player in history. 4. The fourth player to score 30+ in the half of this season’s playoffs. The previous three players are: Booker, Curry and Butler.
The stronger Murray is, the worse he is alone. He is the Lakers’ starting point guard Russell. Before this life-and-death battle, the calls for Russell to be removed from the starting lineup were quite high. The data also supports this. When Russell was on the court in the previous two Western Conference Finals, the Lakers’ plus-minus value was -41; when Russell was not on the court, the Lakers’ plus-minus value reached +30.
In Game 3 of life and death, when Reeves and Russell were on the same court, the Lakers lost by 12 points, but when Reeves was on the court and Russell was not on the court, the Lakers won by 9 points.
However, Russell continued to start in the second half. James Sharp, the famous mouthpiece of Jamie, continued to express his dissatisfaction, “Why did Russell and Vanderbilt start in the second half?” He added, “They kept passing the ball to Russell, but he kept hitting the iron.” I couldn’t bear it. Stopped, Sharp continued to rage, “This is Hamm’s responsibility. Russell played like a shit, but Hamm still left him on the court. These criticisms are all his own fault, his stupid coaching.” Famous talker Parkin Si also said rudely, “XX quickly replace Russell.”
Ham also finally admitted his mistake. At the decisive moment, he abandoned Russell. However, the Nuggets played a wave of 13-0 and opened up a 12-point gap. Murray made a layup and there were less than 3 points left. Minutes later, the Nuggets still led by 12 points. In the end, the Nuggets had the last laugh, leading 3-0.Return to Sohu to see more