The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James are now on the brink of elimination after losing Game 3 to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
The Los Angeles Lakers had a rough start to the Western Conference Finals, dropping their first two games to the Denver Nuggets. In Game 1, there was at least a chance the Lakers would make things interesting, but they lost 132-126. In Game 2, the Lakers had no answers to Jamal Murray in the fourth quarter, losing 108-103. But the Lakers had the home advantage on their side, going undefeated at Crypto.com Arena in this playoff run.
While Los Angeles put up a fight in the second half, it wasn’t enough for a home game in the series, as Denver cruised to a 119-108 victory.
The Lakers led 94-93 with less than eight minutes left in regulation. But then a 13-0 run, including three three-pointers, helped the Nuggets pull away. The Lakers couldn’t keep up, as the score became inevitable, and fans started leaving the stadium before it was even the final game.
Let’s take a look at some of the social media reactions that pushed the Lakers and LeBron James to the brink of elimination.
Lakers, LeBron pushed James to the brink of elimination after losing the third game
Losing 0-3 is not ideal territory for Los Angeles, as no team has ever been able to come back from this kind of deficit in NBA history. That’s right, even James couldn’t beat it in his entire 20-year career.
Speaking of James, he was able to shoot his first three points of the series. He made consecutive shots from behind the arc! As those who watched the match know, it wasn’t enough.
James scored 28 points while making 8 of 19 field goal attempts and 3 of 9 three-point attempts.
Anthony Davis achieved a double-double, scoring 28 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in 42 minutes.
Murray led the Nuggets with 37 points, 17 of which came in the first quarter.
Michael Porter Jr. had a double-double of his own after scoring 14 points and pulling up 10 boards.
The Lakers are looking to avoid elimination with a win on Monday. But if they don’t, the Nuggets will reach the NBA Finals for the first time.