LOS ANGELES — 0-149.
The record of NBA teams down 0-3 in a series — which the Lakers are after they dropped Game 3 at home Saturday night — is not good. But LeBron James and the Lakers are quick to point out the odds have been long against them all season, starting with their 2-12 start through them being the No. 13 seed as late as Feb. 25, yet here they are in the Western Conference Finals. So they are saying there’s a chance.
“Just gotta get one,” LeBron said after Game 3. “One at a time. So focus on Game 4. That’s all you can really think about. I mean obviously, this game is over and done with. We had some opportunities, but we didn’t come through. Just get ready for Monday. Just gotta get one. One-game series for us. Every game counts obviously.”
“Our backs been against the wall… probably the last two months. Maybe more than that,” Austin Reaves said. “We can either come out Monday and go home or fight for another day… With the group of guys we got, I know what the answer will be.”
Laker coach Darvin Ham was asked if the Lakers could come back from down 0-3.
“Absolutely,” Ham answered. “I mean, I think the deficit is 3-0, not four. So as long as they have not gotten to four yet, there’s still hope. We’re still alive. We just have to focus on winning one game.”
There have been 0-3 comebacks in other sports. The Red Sox famously did it to the Yankees in 2004 in the MLB American League Championship, and it’s happened four times in the NHL, most recently in 2014 when the Los Angeles Kings — playing in the same building as the Lakers — did it to the San Jose Sharks on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.
If the Lakers are going to make history, they have a lot of questions to answer, starting with how to slow Jamal Murray. The Nuggets have the two-time MVP in Nikola Jokić, but in this series, more importantly, have great depth of shooting that is straining the usually stout Lakers defense. Ham has thrown a lot of adjustments at the Nuggets (except for completely going away from D’Angelo Russell) and the Nuggets have answered every one.
It’s a big ask for the Lakers, but it starts with winning one game.