The Los Angeles Lakers are down 3-0 to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. This series seems all but over, especially given the history. No team has ever come back down by that amount, and the Lakers face the Nuggets in Game 4 on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena, just trying to survive one more day.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have been sensational as they try to make their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals and avenge that 2020 Bubble loss to the same Lakers team. However, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are going to fight until the last minute in hopes of another NBA title.
It's unlikely, but here are two reasons why the Lakers could make history with an improbable comeback.
2: 0.3%
At the beginning of the season, the Lakers started off 2-10. At that time, everything looked hopeless. Trade rumors already circulated, Rob Pelinka's name was being thrown out after a poor offseason, and the Russell Westbrook slander was at an all-time high. The Lakers had a 0.3% chance to make the playoffs at that moment.
They had been as low as the 13th seed in the Western Conference, and it looked like a longshot even for them to get into the Play-In. Yet, months later, the Lakers made it, beat the two-seed Memphis Grizzlies, then topped the Golden State Warriors in six games to get to the Western Conference Finals.
Again, it's a tough road and a difficult hole to be in down 3-0, especially with Games 5 and 7, if they happen, taking place in Denver. But, the Lakers have defied the odds this season time and time again. LeBron got hurt and missed time from February 26 until March 26, yet the Lakers managed to stay afloat and in striking distance.
Even with a 0.3% chance and then making a flurry of moves at the Trade Deadline, they found a way to sneak into the Play-In, win it, then beat the Grizzlies and Warriors despite being the lower seed in each matchup.
1: LeBron James
Article Continues BelowThis seems obvious because it is. LeBron James, even after 20 years in the NBA, continues to push aside Father Time and do incredible things. Everybody is waiting for him to come falling back to Earth, and he hasn't. Not yet, at least.
LeBron engineered the Cleveland Cavaliers to an improbable 3-1 comeback against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. With all odds against him, the Cavs won the final three games, including an epic Game 7 victory in California to win the championship.
At that time, nobody thought it was possible, but this LeBron meme will forever live in history.
LeBron James trails 0-3 for just the fourth time in his career 👀
7 years ago, he led the Cavs to the only 3-1 comeback in NBA Finals history.
This time, the Lakers fall into an 0-3 hole after losing at home against the Nuggets. Will he bring the same energy to carry L.A. to… pic.twitter.com/45Z9C8UAnL
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 21, 2023
He has been down 0-3 just three times in his career before this occurrence, and all three have come in the NBA Finals. In games where has is down 0-3, LeBron is averaging 26.0 points, 9.7 assists and 7.7 rebounds. In his lone win, which came in the 2017 NBA Finals, he posted a 31/11/10 triple-double against the Golden State Warriors.
Again, the odds are stacked against the Lakers at an all-time high, although that's not something out of the ordinary for the way this season has gone.