The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a blow in Thursday's game, losing Game 3 at home against the Denver Nuggets and nearly losing hope of a series victory. Although the Lakers took a 10-point lead with a hot start to the cheers of the fans, their advantage was then erased by the Nuggets.
The Nuggets went on a 26-20 run in the second quarter to cut the deficit to four points. In the third quarter, they defeated the Lakers by an overwhelming 34-22 victory, showing strong strength. In the crucial fourth quarter, the Lakers trailed by eight points, but in the face of this opponent who defeated them 10 times in a row, the Lakers seemed to have lost their fighting spirit and were completely crushed mentally by their opponents.
After the game, LeBron James and Anthony Davis sat on the bench with glazed eyes, their body language clearly revealing a lack of confidence. They looked frustrated with the result and were not even willing to stay in the arena. That sentiment is spreading through the Lakers, making them look more like a tired old horse than a combative challenger.
The Nuggets took a 3-0 lead in the series with this victory, putting the Lakers in a desperate situation. According to NBA statistics, only five teams in American sports history have come back from a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game series, and none of them are NBA teams. While the Lakers can see this as an opportunity to make history, Rachel Nichols, an analyst and presenter at Fox Sports, is concerned about their prospects. She believes that the current state of the Lakers is more like an old horse waiting to be relieved than a Warrior who dares to challenge.
Contradictions within the Lakers are also gradually surfacing. Before the start of the third game, Anthony Davis complained after losing the second game that the team was incapable of doing anything when the opponent was in good form, which was undoubtedly a direct accusation against the coaching staff.
Head coach Darvin Ham did not ease the situation, insisting that the team's poor performance in the game was due to frustration with the players, not a problem with the coaching staff. "I just feel like sometimes you get frustrated when the game doesn't go the way you thought it would. But I don't think it's because we don't have organization. I think I have very talented coaches on my coaching staff and I just put it down to frustration. It's an emotional game, how it ends, etc., and I agree that there are differences of opinion on this point. Ham said.
D'Angelo Russell's isolation from other players also reflects the split within the squad. While the rest of the team sat together, he sat alone, looking out of place.
With current momentum, the Nuggets are highly likely to end the series in Game 4 and continue their NBA championship journey. And for the Lakers, they seem to be back to square one, facing the embarrassing situation of being humiliated by the Nuggets again.