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Lakers News: LeBron James, Anthony Davis Explain Mentality Down 0-3 To Denver

LA's All-Stars break down why they're hopeful the club can do the unthinkable.
Apr 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23).
Apr 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23). | Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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In the 151 prior times it's happened during an NBA playoff series, no team has ever managed to rally all the way back to win when down 0-3 in a series.

But Los Angeles Lakers All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis remain defiantly hopeful, at least during press conferences (their oncourt body language late in a 112-105 Game 3 loss against the Denver Nuggets Thursday is a different story), that they can be the first to do so this postseason, per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.

“This is the postseason. We’ve been — me and this guy have been playing together for six years. We’ve been to the mountaintop,” James said postgame, sitting alongside Davis. “We’ve been close to the mountaintop. We’ve played a lot of games. We know what it takes to win. We know what it takes to win a championship and how damn-near perfect you gotta be. That’s not like something that’s so crazy to obtain. I’ve been a part of it four times where you have to have the most perfect basketball to win.”

“Our focus and our [mentality] right now is just trying to get one. Trying to get a game and then go from there,” Anthony Davis said. “Try to get a game on Saturday, Game 4. And go from there. However many straight [we lost], we can’t focus on that. Our focus is trying to [get] better from tonight, learn from our mistakes and try to get a win on Saturday. We can’t do anything about it. It’s in the past.”

The Lakers have fumbled away double-digit leads in all three contests. Denver, the reigning champs who also beat LA in a sweep during last year's playoffs (albeit in the Western Conference Finals, not the first round), has won its last 11 games against Los Angeles.

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Currently also a scribe for Newsweek, Hoops Rumors, The Sporting News and "Gremlins" director Joe Dante's film site Trailers From Hell, Alex is an alum of Men's Journal, Grizzlies fan site Grizzly Bear Blues, and Bulls fan sites Blog-A-Bull and Pippen Ain't Easy, among others.