The Los Angeles Lakers have gone further than predicted if we consider in which position they found themselves a few months back. However, while they’re still in competition, they cannot get satisfied with that.
The purple and gold need to find a way to bounce back against the Denver Nuggets, who have taken a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals. After two games on the road, the Lakers are going back home.
While LeBron James and company have been strong at the Crypto.com Arena so far, The King knows they cannot take anything for granted. Therefore, James made something clear for his teammates ahead of Game 3.
LeBron James explains what Lakers need to do to bounce back
“We still got to play with the same desperation as we did tonight,” James said, via LakersNation. “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. 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.
“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. 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.”
The Lakers fought until the end in Game 2, but unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Jamal Murray had an incredible night and, in the end, Los Angeles fell just short. But as LeBron said, the series is far from finished.