The Los Angeles Lakers dropped their second straight game for the first time in these NBA Playoffs on Thursday. The Lakers were in prime position to steal a road game until Nuggets’ guard Jamal Murray exploded for 23 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2.
It’s a rare position for the Lakers, who haven’t been down 2-0 in a series since 2013. As a franchise, the Lakers have only come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a series once — the 1969 Conference Semi-Finals when they reeled off four straight to defeat the Golden State Warriors.
Luckily for the purple and gold, the series is going back to L.A., where the Lakers have won their last nine games. That doesn’t add any sense of comfort for LeBron James though, who emphasized being more on edge when you return home.
“We still got to play with the same desperation as we did tonight,” James said. “We came out with an L but doesn’t give us any more comfort. We can’t go into any postseason game with comfort, just because you either haven’t lost at home or you’re going back home,” he said. “I think it’s even more you got to be on edge, because when you go home you get in your own bed, get around your family, everybody’s being cool and jolly and everything. Nah, you got to be even more on edge when you go home. So, we got to understand that going back and being down 0-2. There’s no reason for us to get comfortable.”
LeBron’s had his fair share of series’ down 0-2. He’s faced that mountain eight times in his career, coming out victorious three times including the 2016 NBA Finals. Two of those other victories came in a Conference Finals series, representing a majority of the six all-time series wins when trailing 2-0.
That experience can be beneficial now with James mentioning that until a team beats them four times, the Lakers always have an opportunity to advance.
“What you take out of it is the fact that this is not the NCAA tournament, it’s the first team to four wins. We have an opportunity to go home and play great basketball and hold serve. So until a team beats you four times then you always have an opportunity to come out of it,” he said. “So that’s the confidence that we should have. I know it’s going to be a tough hill to climb up, but we still have an opportunity to play good basketball and play the best basketball of the series in Game 3.
“Like I said, if we can get better from Game 2 like we did tonight to Game 3, then we put ourselves in a position to do that.”
Even though it’s not an elimination game, going down three games to none practically ruins any chances of a comeback. Therefore, the Lakers can expect an aggressive LeBron early and often.
LeBron expected to play in Game 3 after twisting ankle
Lakers fans braced themselves when James went down holding his ankle in Game 2 during two separate instances. He seemed to step on Nuggets’ forward Aaron Gordon’s ankle late in the game, but expects to play in a crucial Game 3 on Saturday.
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