LOS ANGELES — After winning 112-105 in Game 3, the Nuggets are now one game away from sweeping the Lakers in the playoffs two consecutive years. To note, the last time the Lakers beat the Nuggets was December 16, 2022, as this is now the 11th straight loss vs. Denver, which is the fifth-longest active losing streak for a franchise vs. any team in the NBA.
LeBron James finished with 26 points (12-for-20 FG), nine assists, and six rebounds, while his counterpart Anthony Davis had a game-high 33 points (14-for-23 FG) and 15 rebounds. “We’ve been, me and this guy [Davis] have been playing together for six years,” James stated. “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.”
James, 39, certainly has experience, as he has played in the most career playoff games (285) in NBA history, while also having the record for most points in the playoffs (8,102). Unfortunately, the 21-year vet and his partner AD once again did not get much help from the Lakers’ supporting cast, besides Austin Reaves, who contributed 22 points and four steals.
The Lakers’ top three scorers combined for 81 points, while the rest of the team only had 24 points. To emphasize, James and Davis have been averaging a combined 58.7 points per game this series, while the rest of the team put together has only scored 43.7 ppg. As a result, the Lakers as a team are only averaging 102.3 points per game in the playoffs, which is much lower than their regular season average of 118 ppg (6th most in the NBA).
Despite jumping out to an 8-0 lead, the Lakers missed 15 of their first 16 three-point attempts, that is to say, they didn’t make their second three until the fourth quarter. D’Angelo Russell, who made 7-of-11 3’s in Game 2, went 0-for-6 from deep and ended the game with 0 points. At one point during the game, while the team was in a huddle amid a timeout break, Russell was seen by himself eating on the bench while playing on his phone away from the team. Seeing that, fans may start to wonder, being one game away from elimination, if some of the players are already planning their off-season Cancun vacation trip.
DLo is on the bench eating chocolate during the Lakers huddle 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/DGaZzUnrba
— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) April 26, 2024
When asked about his teammates and if their mindset was altered by the Nuggets’ dominance, James told NBA reporters, “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.”
Nikola Jokic had 24 points (9-for-13 FG), 15 rebounds, and nine assists, “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.”
To point out, the Lakers held double-digit leads in each of their three losses to the Nuggets this series. Given this, maybe the halftime speeches are the problem, as the collapse always seems to come at the start of the second half for the purple and gold. To put into perspective, the Lakers throughout the three games of the series have been outscored by 31 points in the third quarter, while in the rest of the quarters, LA has actually outscored the Nuggets. Furthermore, the Lakers have now played with the lead for 93:36 minutes so far this series, compared to the Nuggets who only led for 41:53 minutes, but still somehow the series is 3-0 in Denver’s favor.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham, who may have heard the “Fire Darvin” chants in Crypto.com Arena Thursday night, gave credit to the opposing team, “They have a championship confidence,” coach Ham said. “That starting group has been together for a long time. Their net rating is off the charts as a starting group. They had guys step up and make plays.”
Four of the starting five for Denver scored 20+ points, as they were led by Aaron Gordon, who had a playoff career-high 29 points and 15 rebounds. Michael Porter Jr. also recorded a 20-point double-double with 10 rebounds, while Jamal Murray put up 22 points, as well as being one assist shy of a double-double, dishing out nine dimes and grabbing five rebounds.
“Winning is a lifestyle for us,” the two-time MVP Jokic stated. “It’s really good when you are winning, especially when you win a lot of games, everybody is happy, everybody wants to play, everybody is buying into the system… I was here when we were “losing” so I don’t want to go back to that.”
The second-seeded Nuggets will try to sweep the seventh-seeded Lakers once again as they will play Game 4 on Saturday, April 27 at 8:30 pm ET. Important to keep in mind that no NBA team has ever come back in a playoff series after being down 3-0 (0-151), with only four teams having ever forced a game 7, the Lakers will certainly need a miracle, especially considering their current losing streak to the defending champs. Notably, in NBA history, when trailing 3-0, 61% of teams have gone on to lose Game 4, resulting in a sweep.
“You come out with the mindset, ‘Let’s get one, force a Game 5, and then we go from there,’” James said following his seventh consecutive playoff loss. “As long as you still have life, then you obviously have belief. I just think you play ’til the wheels fall off. That’s what it’s always about for me. That’s a mindset, and I know (Davis) feels the same way.”
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