LeBron James, with 285 playoff games under his belt, drew from his wealth of experience to discuss the keys to postseason success after the Lakers’ 112-105 Game 3 loss against the Denver Nuggets.
“You’re supposed to have anxiety and pressure – or feel the pressure,” LeBron James stated after Denver took a 3-0 lead in their first-round series, leaving the Lakers one win away from being swept into their summer for a second consecutive year. “That’s what it’s about. This is what the postseason is about.”
LeBron James and Anthony Davis showcased their clutch performance abilities during a critical game. Together, they contributed a total of 59 points for the Los Angeles Lakers.
James, shooting 12-for-20, scored 26 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out nine assists. Meanwhile, Davis led the team with 33 points on 14-for-23 shooting and an impressive 15 boards.
The other Lakers players didn’t receive the same praise, as they were outperformed by a Denver team featuring Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr., both of whom scored over 20 points.
These performances supported the star players Nikola Jokic (29 points, 15 rebounds) and Jamal Murray (22 points, nine assists).
When questioned about whether the Lakers were affected by the Nuggets’ execution, James responded, “You’d need to ask each person individually and gauge their feelings. It’s difficult for me to assume what someone else is thinking. I don’t have that ability—I’m not a mind reader.
Following his scoreless performance in Game 3, where he missed all seven of his shots (including six three-point attempts), Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell chose not to address reporters after the game, as confirmed by a team representative.
“Over the past six years, my teammate Anthony Davis and I have shared the court,” James elaborated. “We’ve experienced both triumphs and near misses.
Through countless games, we’ve gained a deep understanding of what it requires to secure victory. Winning a championship demands near-perfection—it’s an achievable goal, not an unattainable dream.”
The Lakers face a daunting challenge against the Nuggets, having lost 11 consecutive games to them. This streak is the fifth-longest active one between any two franchises.
Interestingly, the four teams preceding the Lakers on this list—Detroit, Houston, Charlotte, and Portland—have not come close to winning a championship in recent times.
In Game 3, Denver proved they were not invincible. The Los Angeles team started strong with an 8-0 lead, prompting the Nuggets to call a timeout just under two minutes into the game.
The crowd was electric, and the Lakers, much like in Game 1 and Game 2, managed to build a 12-point lead, which they maintained throughout Thursday’s match.
During the third quarter, Denver managed to outscore the Lakers 34-22. Across the three games played so far, the Nuggets have a total advantage of 31 points in third quarters. However, in the remaining nine quarters, the Lakers have outperformed the Nuggets by 11 points.
Austin Reaves, the sole Lakers player to reach double digits in scoring apart from James and Davis, described our third-quarter performance as ‘atrocious.’
However, he managed to contribute 10 of his 22 points during the late stages of the fourth quarter, after the Nuggets had gained control.
Despite the despondent looks on the Lakers’ bench and among the coaching staff during the latter part of the game, there remains one more home game for Los Angeles to host on Saturday in Game 4.
Davis emphasized that the Lakers need to improve their rebounding, especially after allowing 19 second-chance points from 14 offensive rebounds. Additionally, they should focus on defensive transitions and aim to score more points.
“We need to put points on the board,” Davis emphasized. “Our second-quarter output was only 20, and in the third quarter, we managed just 22. Against a team that can score, we must match their scoring ability.”
In the series, the Lakers are scoring an average of only 102.3 points. However, during their final 15 regular-season games and the play-in tournament leading up to the Denver series, they managed an impressive 124.4 points per game. The Nuggets, on the other hand, remain vigilant.
“I think every game is tougher and tougher,” 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.”
At this juncture, the Lakers’ best hope lies in discovering a vulnerability in the Nuggets’ defense that they can exploit to prolong their season.
“It’s one game at a time, at this point,” James said. “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.”
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