We Witnessed THE END Of A Dynasty…

We Witnessed THE END Of A Dynasty…

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The first day of the play-in gave us possibly the end of an era in Golden State, while Lebron and the Lakers survive in a thriller ending and advance to the playoffs, so we gotta start there.
But the start itself was ugly for LA.
With 10 quick points in the first, Williamson announced that this wasn’t going to be like the previous matchups where James just sagged off of him and it was game over. And,
As soon as Lebron went to the bench for a breather, the Pelicans went on a 14-5 run, ending the quarter with an 8 point lead.
And the second period started off with a bang.
But it was the defense of the Lakers actually that completely turned this game around in the blink of an eye.
The suffocating defense by the Lakers forced New Orleans into taking a bunch of horrible shots, and at times the Pelicans looked like they had no idea what to do.
Zion had 10 points in the second as well, but his teammates were clueless scoring only 6 points combined.
And meanwhile, the Lakers shooters were feasting…
LA went on a furious run in the second quarter, winning the period 34 to 16 and on the break this was a 10 point lead for them.
And, what should have been a rally back into the game in the third quarter, turned into a nightmare, as one of their leaders Brandon Ingram was a complete no show.
From forcing up unnecessary tough shots, to turnovers, and most of all, not creating for his teammates, the Pelicans couldn’t rely on him as the deficit was increasing.
MAAAN THIS GOT ME FIRED UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, AND I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE HARD FOR ME TO SLEEP AFTER THIS GAME.
What’s funny is that as soon as Ingram sat on the bench along with CJ who was also having a horrific game and Valanciunas another no show- the Pelicans went on a run with Zion and the bench unit.
Williamson scored 11 more points in the third but at the beginning of the fourth quarter while he was on the bench, Willie Green trusted Mccollum and Ingram to get even closer. But the complete opposite started to happen. As they continued to fire up bad shots and the Lakers knew how to punish that.
So Green goes back to the unit that got him close the first time, and then…
And the arena absolutely explodes when…
New Orleans comes all the way back and now it’s on.
Thing is Lebron knows exactly what to do in situations like this when his team needs him the most.
These 2 teams trade blows in the final minutes, and in the heat of the battle, Zion lands awkwardly and injures himself, immediately signaling that he has to leave the game. A huge blow for the Pelicans.
With the Lakers clinging to a 1 point lead, this possession is crucial, so…
Wooow the great penetration by Reaves to suck the defense in, but what a huge shot by D’Angello Russell, ice cold to give his team a 4 point lead.
So after Mccollum finally gets a shot to fall, this is again a 1 possession game, so all they have to do now is get this stop.
Unbelievable, what a monster rebound by Anthony Davis playing with an injured back but still coming up big time not only with the rebound but also with 2 huge free throws to keep it a 2 possession game.
And New Orleans does the same thing again with the quick score and the foul, hoping for a miss at the end.
But this time Austin Reaves comes up not even flinching at the line and hitting 2 shots that eventually sealed the deal for the Lakers propelling them to the playoffs and another battle against the defending champions the Denver Nuggets.
While the Pelicans still have another chance of getting in, as they wait for the winner of Golden State and Sacramento. And boy, Keegan Murray must have been waiting for this game because…
Murray came out blazing hot hitting 4 threes for 14 points in the first quarter, helping the Kings jump out to a 9 point lead in the first quarter despite playing without key players in Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter.
With Steph and Klay being ghosts in the first half, and Sacramento continuing to attack, the lead ballooned to 16 when Davion Mitchell knocked it down from outside.
But then, unlikely heroes stepped up for Golden State trying to save the season.
Kuminga kept this team afloat and single handedly went on a run to get the Warriors back in the game with his 10 points in the period, supported by Moody with 7.
So at half time Golden State was only down by 4 points despite Curry and Thompson combining for only 5 points in the first half.
However nobody could have prepared them for what was about to hit them in the third quarter because…
The Kings stormed out to another run making it a 17 point game. And while Steph Curry woke up for the Warriors and dropped 11 points in the period, Klay was 0 for 7 total at this point, and Wiggins was 4-11 total, the offense was nonexistent for them.
And this leads us to the sequence that was the exclamation point on this game.