Another One Down

It was as if the Lakers, after reviewing countless hours of footage, now understood Chen's offensive tendencies inside and out.

Whether it was his stop-and-go rhythm on offense, which way he favored when driving, or his habitual moves, they knew it all like the backs of their hands.

Under that kind of scrutiny, Chen Xi could still put up big numbers purely because he was a cheater~~

With badges and boosted attributes on his side, no matter how much the opponent disrupted him on defense, as long as a badge activated and the defender didn't block his shot outright, the defense was basically as good as useless.

Even so, Chen couldn't avoid a drop in production.

There was no helping it. They were sticking to him too closely. These days, just getting the ball took up a huge amount of time...

The main reasons for tonight's win were Westbrook and Alexander's brief bursts of brilliance, along with the Lakers' own poor shooting.

With AD still unable to return, unless they found a way to address Chen's reduced production, the first-round series would remain full of uncertainty.

Still, at least the Thunder had taken the lead for now.

For the die-hard Thunder fans, once tonight's main event was over, the next few games weren't nearly as compelling. They could just check in on the results~~

In a matchup played on the same day as Thunder-Lakers, the Pelicans once again easily beat the Mavericks, pushing the series score to 3–0 and becoming the first team this season to reach match point in the first round.

The Dallas Mavericks were now just one loss away from going home to fish.

In another Eastern Conference matchup, the Nets also comfortably beat the Hawks, keeping pace with the Pelicans and taking a 3–0 series lead.