The Los Angeles (LA) Lakers, who fell to 14th out of 15 NBA Western Conference teams at the beginning of the season, succeeded in rebounding by advancing to the second round of the playoffs (PO).
The Lakers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 125-85 in the 6th game of the 2022-2023 NBA Western PO Round 1 (7 matches, 4 wins) held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on the 29th (Korean time).
The Lakers, who won the series 4 wins (2 losses), moved up to the 2nd round.
Among the ‘defending champions’ Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, who competed tightly with 3 wins and 3 losses, the winner of the 7th game and the Western Conference finalists are determined.
The Lakers, who suffered 5 consecutive losses in 8 years, fell to 14th place with 2 wins and 8 losses in the first 10 games.
However, through a trade in February, Russell Westbrook was sent out and Malik Beasley, Jared Vanderbilt, D’Angelo Russell, etc. were reinforced, and they emerged as a strong player in the West again.
The Lakers, who finished in 7th place (43-39) in the regular season, defeated the 8th place (42-40) Minnesota Timberwolves 108-102 in the play-in tournament to secure the 7th seed.
In the first round of the PO, which was difficult to step on, it achieved a reversal of catching Memphis, which was second in the regular league (51 wins, 31 losses), and took a step closer to the goal of ‘reviving a famous family’.
The Lakers, who won the 2019-2020 season, were eliminated in the first round of PO the following season, and in the 2021-2022 season, they ranked 11th and did not even step on PO.
In the Lakers, who confirmed their advancement to the second round with a 40-point victory, Russell and Anthony Davis played a big role in offense and defense, respectively.
Russell scored 31 points, the most on the team, with a field goal success rate of 70.6%, and Davis, who posted 16 points and 14 rebounds, showed only 5 blocked shots.
LeBron James, the team’s signature player, contributed 22 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
In Memphis, the sluggish performance of Merant and Desmond Bain, who are considered one-two punchers, was painful.
Marant, whose long-term breakthrough under the goal was repeatedly blocked by Davis’ defense, threw 16 shots and missed 13, only scoring 10 points.
Bain also scored only 15 points and 5 rebounds with a field goal success rate of 31.3%, and Memphis, who was dragged throughout the game, could not find the momentum to come back.
Sacramento revived the knight by defeating Golden State 118-99 on the road.
Sacramento, who placed 3rd in the regular season (48-34), matched the 6th place (44-38) Golden State with a record of 3-3, leading the series to Game 7.
The team’s ‘assault leader’ Dieron Fox took the lead in a complete victory with 26 points and 11 assists.
Malik Monk, who came off the bench, poured in 28 points and added firepower, and rookie Keegan Murray also started and supported 15 points and 12 rebounds.
In Golden State, Stephen Curry, the flagship, played hard with 29 points including 3 points and 5 shots, but could not prevent defeat.크크크벳
It was painful to see Jordan Poole, who was chosen by coach Steve Kerr and started as a starter, recorded an 18.2% field goal success rate and was sluggish with 7 points.
Pool, who was tasked with leading the team’s offense as a guard along with Curry, only had one assist.
The 7th game between the two teams will be played at the home of Sacramento on the 1st of next month.