The Los Angeles Lakers are down, but LeBron James doesn’t feel like his squad is out yet.
The Lakers dropped Game 3 of their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets 112-105 on Thursday. LA is now behind 3-0 in the series.
No team has ever come back from that deficit in a playoff series. Compounding the Lakers’ issues is that they’ve now lost 12 straight to the Nuggets, dating back to last season’s Western Conference Finals.
James has seen it all in his career, which has spanned over two decades. It’s a tough spot, but the four-time MVP will keep fighting.
“It’s one game at a time, at this point,” James said in his postgame press conference. “You lose, you go home. So we’re going come in with the mindset of, ‘Let’s get one.’ Force a Game 5 and then we go from there. So as long as you still have life, then you always have belief. I just think you play until the wheels fall off.”
The Lakers do indeed have life, although it’s fading fast. LA will try to avoid a sweep on Saturday as they host Game 4.
Lakers Star LeBron James Unsure if Pressure is Getting to Teammates
James and Anthony Davis combined for 59 points in the matchup. Austin Reaves chipped in 22, but the rest of the roster contributed just 24 points. That included a scoreless night from D’Angelo Russell, who was 0-of-7 from the field.
A reporter asked James after the game if he believes the pressure of the postseason is getting to some of his teammates. He didn’t shut down the notion but also did not want to speak for his fellow Lakers.
“You’d have to ask the individuals that question and see how they feel. It’s hard for me just to be like, ‘This is what I think that guy feels.’ … I can’t do that. I’m not a mind reader. I don’t know.”
Russell did not speak to reporters after the game.
James has four championship rings, one of those with the Lakers. He and Davis know what it takes to have success in the postseason. He doesn’t sound so sure about his other teammates.
“Me and this guy [Davis] have been playing together for six years,” James said. “We’ve been to the mountaintop. We’ve been close to the mountaintop. We’ve played a lot of games. We know what it takes to win. We know what it takes to win a championship and how damn near perfect you got to be. That’s not like something that’s so crazy to obtain.”
Nuggets Focused on Finishing Off LeBron James, Lakers
The Nuggets are not taking the Lakers lightly despite their string of dominance. LA has held double-digit leads in the last two matchups, including a 20-point edge in Game 2. LA just hasn’t been able to seal the deal.
“I think every game is tougher and tougher,” Nuggets star Nikola Jokic said. “They were up 20 in Denver; they were up 12 today in the first half. I think it’s really hard to play against the same team over again. You can’t get bored with the style of the play or whatever. You just need to keep doing you, especially for us — because we won the last three — and just trust what we are doing and don’t get bored with success because it can go wrong really quick.”
The Lakers averaged 118 points per game in the regular season, sixth in the league. But the shots haven’t been dropping for LA.
The Lakers are averaging just 102.3 points against the Nuggets in the series. In Game 3, the team shot a miserable 18.5% from beyond the arc. The Lakers also lost the rebounding battle by a significant margin, 51-38.
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Lakers Star LeBron James Sends Message to Teammates on Brink of Elimination