LeBron James On Lakers’ 3-0 Hole: ‘You Play Until The Wheels Fall Off’

LeBron James is trying to keep a positive mindset despite the Lakers’ 3-0 series deficit vs. the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s one game at a time, at this point,” James told reporters. “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.”

James added he can’t speak for how others in the locker room are feeling.

“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,” he told NBA reporters. “I’m not a mind reader. I don’t know.” 

Big man Anthony Davis was sitting by James’ side during the press conference.

“We’ve been — me and this guy 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.”

No team in NBA history has overcome a 3-0 series deficit. James and the Lakers have lost 11 straight to the Nuggets — who can close out the series in LA on Saturday night. If not, the series will shift back to Denver for a Game 5.

The Lakers have blown a double-digit lead in each game, including a 20-point advantage in the third quarter of Game 3.