When 41-year-old James faces 37-year-old Durant

Over the past two days, fans have been calculating and speculating how the Nuggets and Lakers would choose their opponents. Yet on the final day, there was no scheming or acting—they played normally as they should, and ultimately got the matchups they wanted.

In the Spurs-Nuggets game, the Nuggets rested most of their core players; only Jokić played half a game because he needed one more game to qualify for awards. Jokić scored 23 points and 8 rebounds in that half, dominating the Spurs on the floor, clearly showing that the Nuggets were playing seriously today.

On the Spurs side, except for Wembanyama and Kornet being absent, other main players were available, yet they couldn’t defeat such a depleted Nuggets lineup. After an 18-0 opening run by the Nuggets, the Spurs never narrowed the gap again. In the final minute, the Spurs once cut it to 6 points; Fox missed three consecutive three-pointers from the same spot—the Nuggets’ third unit gave them chances, but the Spurs simply couldn’t make their shots.

Originally, I thought this game was one the Spurs had to fight hard to win, because if they beat the Nuggets, they could likely push the Nuggets to fourth place and arrange an early meeting between the Nuggets and Thunder in the second round, while they themselves would face the winner of the Lakers and Timberwolves matchup. From any perspective, the Lakers and Timberwolves seem like easier opponents.

Of course, the前提 is that the Spurs must first win against the winner of the Trail Blazers and Suns in the opening round. Most of these young players are experiencing their first playoffs, and even Fox has limited playoff experience, so it’s still too early to say they will definitely advance past the first round.

Today’s outcome can be considered “皆大欢喜” (pleasing everyone). The Lakers and Rockets moved toward each other willingly; although the Nuggets face a theoretically tougher Timberwolves in the first round, they successfully avoided the Thunder in the second round. For fans, Nuggets vs. Timberwolves is undoubtedly the highest-quality first-round matchup, while the Lakers-Rockets series无疑 will be filled with流量 and attention.

In earlier years, the playoff encounter between the Yao Ming-era Rockets and the科比-era Lakers left many memorable scenes. Yao Ming’s return from the player tunnel, the entanglement between科比 and Artest, Battier’s blood-stained photo on the court—these were the best诠释 of the Rockets’不屈 spirit in that series.

The 2020 rematch inside the bubble shifted the看点 to the duel between the two Jameses. The Rockets won the first game of the semifinals, but unexpectedly that became the only victory they secured in the entire semifinals; the Lakers won four straight to eliminate the Rockets. That was also Harden’s final playoff series with the Rockets, after which both the Rockets and Harden entered new phases.

This year, the Lakers-Rockets battle enters a new chapter. The rebuilt Rockets welcomed Durant’s加入 this season. On the Lakers side, they had already completed the transition from James to Dončić, but unexpectedly Dončić fell before the playoffs started, and Reaves was also injured, so the Lakers’ leader once again became James.

Thus, the fourth playoff meeting between James and Durant arrives as scheduled; the previous three all occurred in the Finals. In 2012, young Durant faced James who had just crossed生死线; the Heat defeated the Thunder 4-1, and James overcame Durant to stand atop the world for the first time.

In 2017 and 2018, Durant, having joined the Warriors, twice翻过 James这座大山, ending his own心魔 from the 45-degree角. The Cavaliers-Warriors battles in 2017 and 2018 were slightly less精彩 compared to 2015 and 2016, but for Durant, they were absolutely peak moments in his career.

Interestingly, the two have faced off in three series, playing only 14 games total, with the最多 result being 4-1 ending the fight. In those three encounters, the teams’ strengths were clearly uneven, whereas this year seems like the closest matchup yet.

In March, the Lakers defeated the Rockets twice relying on one tactic: double-teaming Durant. After that, the Rockets痛定思痛, significantly increasing ball sharing; their recent games have shown very impressive average assists. However, considering the Rockets’ overall shooting ability, the Lakers will still坚决 double-team Durant.

Besides the James-Durant duel, the matchup I most look forward to is Ayton vs. Capela. Mid-season, Ayton’s remark “They treat me like Capela” sparked some friction between them, yet in their direct encounter, Ayton performed even worse than Capela.

Both teams can be considered “伤兵满营,” though the difference is that the Rockets lost VanVleet and Adams early and mid-season; after磨合, they have now adapted to this lineup and found a winning approach with it. The Lakers lost Reaves and Dončić simultaneously toward the end of the season, greatly reducing their战力, and there is little time left for the Lakers to重新磨合.

With Dončić and Reaves available, I would naturally lean slightly toward favoring the Lakers. But now, even facing the Rockets who appear the weakest among the top six in the West, the Lakers remain the more disadvantaged side,甚至到了 winning one game would count as accomplishing their task的地步.

At 41, James remains the team’s first option in the playoffs—for fans this is a kind of happiness, but又何尝 not a kind of悲哀呢.