LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers suddenly find themselves in a precarious position as their season, and potentially his tenure with the franchise, could be coming to an end after just one more game.
A blowout loss on Saturday put the Lakers in a 3-0 series deficit to the Oklahoma City Thunder. No NBA team has ever recovered from such a hole, and there’s been little to suggest the defending champions will become the first to suffer that unceremonious honor.
Although the Lakers are seemingly facing insurmountable odds, James is attempting to find solace in the fact they still have an opportunity to keep their season alive.
“I’m not angry or disappointed,” he said. “Obviously, you’re disappointed with the simple fact that you’re down 3-0, obviously. But we still got life. That’s all you can ask for. We have to be much better on Monday.”
The Lakers have been competitive through the first haves of all three losses and even led after two quarters in Games 2 and 3. But whether due to a lack of sustained focus and shooting, overall depth, or a combination of the three, they’ve been outscored by 31 points in the third quarters.
“I mean, obviously, everything,” James said of what will be required from the Lakers to win Game 4. “Everything and more to beat a team like this. We gotta be at our best on Monday.”
James was among several Lakers who struggled in Game 3. He finished with 19 points but missed a bevy of shots in the paint and never truly put his imprint on the game.
At the time of tipoff, teams that hold a 2-0 lead in best-of-seven series have advanced 92% of the time. There have only been 34 times where a team has come back from a 2-0 series deficit, and has been James involved in three such instances.
Furthermore, the matchup with the Thunder marked the 11th time in James’ career he’s faced a 2-0 series deficit in a best-of-seven. He’s 3-7 in those series thus far.
LeBron James critical of Lakers’ effort
Head coach JJ Redick adjusting his rotation was not enough for the Lakers to overcome their third-quarter woes, and the sluggish performance on Saturday drew the ire of James.
“We didn’t have the energy, the effort and they put a thirty-plus point quarter on us. That kinda took care of the game right there, honestly. We had moments, obviously in the first half, that was really good for us,” he said.
“We did a good job of sharing the ball and knocking down shots. But that third quarter, we didn’t knock down shots. We didn’t defend or get stops, I would say. We defended, we didn’t get stops, and it allowed them to kind of take control of the game.”
The Thunder outscored the Lakers 33-20 in the third quarter.
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