The Los Angeles Lakers were in must-win territory heading into Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday, but they ultimately came up short.
The Denver Nuggets led for much of the game and then withstood a Lakers comeback attempt to win 119-108. The Nuggets are now up 3-0, but Darvin Ham isn’t giving up just yet.
“The deficit is 3-0. Not 4-0. As long as they haven’t gotten to four yet, there’s still hope. We’re still alive.”
Darvin Ham on the 3-0 deficit: “The deficit is 3-0. Not 4-0. As long as they haven’t gotten to four yet, there’s still hope. We’re still alive.”
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) May 21, 2023
It is what you would expect him to say, but this series is all but over at this point. You should normally never count out a squad that has LeBron James on it, but this team isn’t going to win four games in a row, especially with two of them being in Denver. LeBron, like his head coach, isn’t throwing in the towel but deep down even he’d know it’s over.
The Lakers Have Struggled In The Closing Stages Of These Games
What would be so frustrating for L.A. is that they had a chance to win all of these games. Just like in this game, they had made a great comeback in Game 1, only to just fall short in the end. They were then leading for long stretches of Game 2, only to fall victim to a Jamal Murray explosion in the fourth quarter, as he led the Nuggets to victory.
Here, the Lakers had briefly taken the lead in the fourth quarter but were dominated the rest of the way, as Nikola Jokic had 15 points in the period. At the end of the day, you just have to give the Nuggets credit for executing better in the big moments and thanks to that, they look set to get to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. As for the Lakers, while they would be disappointed by an exit in this round, they have done very well to get this far considering where they were at one point this season.
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