SUMMARY
- The Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 1 to the Denver Nuggets in Colorado recently.
- LeBron James and Co. failed to get the job done despite having a 12-point lead in the first quarter.
The Los Angeles Lakers are currently fighting against the Denver Nuggets in Round 1 of the playoffs. LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been the leaders of the locker room, and have performed the best for the team this year. They just lost Game 1 to the defending champs, even though they had a 12-point lead in the first quarter. The Nuggets have proven to be a challenge for the Lakers, especially after the 4-0 series in the 2023 WCF.
After the game, LeBron spoke about what about the Lakers‘ Game 1 performance leads him to believe that they can secure a comeback. He kept his answer short and sweet, “It’s a 7-game series.”
LeBron was part of the team that made the historic comeback against the prime Golden State Warriors despite a 3-1 deficit. Along with Kyrie Irving, LeBron led the Cavaliers to a well-deserved NBA title that year. It is no secret that LeBron is not new to series comebacks, and it isn’t all that surprising that he is gunning for one against the Nuggets as well.
LeBron James’ Game 1 stats vs Denver Nuggets
The Lakers lost the game 103-114. Nikola Jokic was the star as usual for the Nuggets. He made 32 points and 12 rebounds, bagging another double-double. Jamal Murray also contributed decently with 22 points, but it was his playmaking that made a difference as well. The player had 10 assists on the night.
For the Lakers, Anthony Davis and LeBron were the standout stars. AD had 32 points and 14 rebounds, whereas King James put up 27 points and 8 assists. At the end of the second quarter, James even sunk a three-pointer from deep, just before the buzzer.
LEBRON JAMES. 🔥🔥🔥
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 21, 2024
The Nuggets had just cut down a 12-point lead to 3, and it looked like LeBron’s three-pointer could help the Lakers gain some momentum. But that wasn’t the case, the Nuggets managed to come back in the third and put in another exceptional performance.
LeBron gets asked about the Lakers’ recent history with Denver Nuggets
A reporter asked LeBron if he had this thought of ‘Here we go again’ when facing the Nuggets, given the recent beef between the two teams after last year’s WCF. LeBron kept it simple as usual and mentioned that the focus was on the game. He said, “I don’t ever get into that ‘Here we go again’ mindset. It’s one game, they protected their home court, we have another opportunity on Monday to come back and be better.”
“We know how challenging it’s gonna be, we know how difficult this opponent is, how great they are, that’s all part of the game. I don’t get into the doubt mindset, that’s not me, I’m the wrong guy to ask,” he added.
LeBron reiterates on the fact that his focus remains on the Lakers’ coming back and giving their best throughout the course of the series, and that he doesn’t pay attention to the talk outside the court. That’s the type of mindset that has helped him gain success until now, and it would be interesting to see if him and the Lakers manage to take down the mighty Nuggets.