For much of Thursday night’s Game 2, it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers could secure a victory over the Denver Nuggets.
In the end, Jamal Murray surged to life in the fourth quarter and made that goal impossible, handing the Lakers their second in a painful pair of back-to-back losses in the series.
The Lakers are now down 0-2, which is clearly a position that no team wants to be in.
While some believe the Lakers won’t be able to stage a comeback, history suggests they have a chance.
Marc Spears, via SportsCenter, pointed out that NBA teams have a 6-56 record when trailing 0-2 in a Conference Finals.
However, two of those six series wins were by LeBron James and his teams, back in 2007 and 2018.
LeBron has been in this position before 👀
(via @MarcJSpears) pic.twitter.com/OFHtiSESMW
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 19, 2023
This news may provide a bit of comfort for fans of the Lakers, who truly need their team to get a win at home on Saturday night.
This isn’t James’ first time in the playoffs, of course, and his amount of victories in various postseasons is large.
But his current Lakers team is facing a Nuggets squad that is resilient, strong, and versatile from all over the floor.
Yet, the Lakers have been showing a strength of their own too.
They created a massive comeback in Game 1 and held the lead for much of Game 2.
While both of those games have ended in defeat, the Lakers are definitely playing with some skill and shouldn’t be totally counted out.
They are making Denver work hard for these wins.
Will it be enough?
Fans of the Lakers haven’t thrown in the towel just yet but everyone agrees that if LA wants any chance at a comeback, it’ll start on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Even James wouldn’t be able to climb out of a 0-3 hole.
NEXT:
Darvin Ham Reacts To Lakers’ Game 2 Loss To Nuggets