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Dave McMenamin, ESPN staff writer
LOS ANGELES — Having just recorded the 285th playoff game of his career — clearing the Denver Nuggets’ starting five of 275 — Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James spoke from a wealth of experience when he detailed what it takes to thrive in the postseason after Thursday night’s 112-105 Game 3 loss.
“You have to have anxiety and pressure — or feel the pressure,” James said after Denver took a 3-0 first-round series lead, one win away from sweeping LA in the summer for the second year in a row. “That’s what it’s all about. That’s what the postseason is all about.”
With Anthony Davis on the right, James endorsed his and the Lakers center’s ability to perform when the games mattered most. The pair took a total of 59 points. James finished with 26 points on 12-for-20 shooting, six rebounds and nine assists, while Davis led LA with 33 points on 14-for-23 shooting and 15 boards.
He didn’t say the same for the rest of the Lakers, who were outplayed by a Denver team that had two players, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr., each top the 20-point plateau to back up All-Star Nikola Jokic (29 points, 15 rebounds ) and Jamal Murray (22 points, 9 assists).
Asked if the Lakers were crushed by the Nuggets’ level of execution, James said: “You have to ask people that question and see how they feel. It’s hard for me to just say to myself, “This is what I think a person feels. … i can’t read minds.
No one was able to ask Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell that question. After going scoreless in Game 3 on 0-for-7 shooting (0-for-6 from 3), he declined to speak to reporters after the game, according to a team spokesman.
“We were – me and this guy [Davis] we’ve been playing together for six years,” continued James. “We’ve been on top of the mountain. We were near the top of the mountain. We have played many games. We know what it takes to win. We know what it takes to win a championship and how near perfect you have to be. It’s not like something that’s so crazy to get.”
It seems somewhat impossible for the Lakers against the Nuggets, though. They have lost 11 straight games against Denver, the fifth-longest active streak of any franchise against a team. And the four teams ahead of the Lakers on that list — Detroit, Houston, Charlotte and Portland — haven’t been far from championships in recent years.
Denver wasn’t untouchable in Game 3. LA opened with an 8-0 lead, prompting the Nuggets to call a timeout just a minute and 50 seconds into the tip-off with the roof ready to blow the building away from the hometown fans. And just like the 12-point lead the Lakers built in Game 1 and the 20-point lead they had in Game 2, they led by as many as 12 on Thursday.
Then came the third quarter when Denver outscored them 34-22. The Nuggets have already outscored LA by 31 in third quarters in three games; the Lakers outscored the Nuggets by 11 in the remaining nine quarters.
“Our third quarter was brutal,” said guard Austin Reaves, the only Lakers player in double figures besides James and Davis, although 10 of his 22 points came late in the fourth quarter after the Nuggets took control.
Although the somber expressions of the Lakers bench and coaching staff at the end of the game suggested this streak was almost over, there is still one more home game for LA to host on Saturday in Game 4.
Davis said the Lakers need to clean up their rebounding after giving up 19 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds, continue to get back in transition on defense and put more points on the board.
“We have to score,” Davis said. “We only had 20 in the second [quarter], 22 in the third. A team like that that will score a goal, we should also be able to score.”
The Lakers are averaging just 102.3 points in the series. LA averaged 124.4 points in the 12 wins it had in its last 15 games of the regular season plus the playoff tournament leading up to the Denver series.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets remain on high alert.
“I think every game is harder and harder,” Jokic said. “They had 20 in Denver; they were up 12 today in the first half. I think it’s really hard to play against the same team again. You can’t get bored of the play style or whatever. keep doing you, especially for us — because we’ve won the last three — and just trust what we’re doing and don’t get sick of success because it can go wrong very quickly.”
Which is all LA can hope for at this point — some crack in the Nuggets’ core that the Lakers can find to extend the season.
“It’s game by game at this point,” James said. “You lose, you go home. So we’re going in with a “Let’s take one” attitude. Force a Game 5 and then we go from there, so while you still have life, then you always have faith.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.
