Lakers' 11th loss in a row to Nuggets leaves them on brink of playoff elimination

LOS ANGELES – LeBron James yawned repeatedly during his news conference Thursday night after the Los Angeles Lakers played the Denver Nuggets, and it makes sense.

Who could possibly be more tired than James of watching the same thing again and again?

Yes, the Lakers lost to Denver. For the 11^th time in a row. The 112-105 defeat at Crypto.com Arena Thursday leaves Lakers trailing the Nuggets 3-0 in the first-round NBA playoff series, facing a must-win Game 4 Saturday and yet with added insight into a vexing question.

Why can’t the Lakers beat the defending NBA champions?

“I’ve played against a lot of great teams,’’ James told reporters. “This is a great team.’’

It's a team that did not panic when the Lakers bolted to an early 10-point lead. The same team that rallied from a 20-point deficit against the Lakers in the second half of Game 2.

“They do not have a weakness offensively,’’ James said.

But the Lakers struggles with the defending NBA champions go beyond that.

How much of this is psychological?

Lakers coach Darvin Ham said he thinks the Lakers’ struggles against the Nuggets has impacted his team mentally.

“Having the type of run they’ve had against our ballclub I think is a lot of disappointment,’’ Ham said. “We have to do a better job of staying focused, staying positive throughout it all, because again you have those disappointing moments. What we call disappointment lags.’’

 During a key stretch in the second half, Austin Reaves missed a layup and Anthony Davis and James committed turnovers on the Lakers’ next two possessions. The purple-and-gold looked very blue.

“That disappointment can spill over two, three, four possessions and you see that when someone makes a mistake we drop our heads and we start jogging back instead of sprinting,’’ Ham said.

By contrast, Ham said, the Nuggets have “a championship confidence.’’

On Thursday, for example, the Lakers bolted to an early lead that swelled to 12 points early in the second quarter.

By halftime, the Nuggets had whittled the deficit to four points. Then they overpowered the Lakers in the second half.

“There’s unbelievable confidence and the scary thing for me is I think we can play so much better,’’ Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, in particular of his starting lineup. “Winning a championship has brought that group tremendous confidence. Not only in themselves but in the collective.’’

The third quarter, and adjustments

In the words of Austin Reaves, third quarters for the Lakers during this series have been “atrocious.’’

A third-quarter recap:

In Game 1, the Lakers were outscored 32-18. In Game 2, they were outscored 25-20. In Game 3, they were outscored 34-22.

No Lakers player has cited poor adjustments as a source of the team’s struggles after intermission. But James, who for the Lakers' slow starts in the second half cited fatigue from building first-half leads, did say “a lot” is going on.

Rather than focusing on what Darvin Ham and his assistants may be failing to do, consider an adjustment Denver coach Michael Malone made Thursday night.

Just over five minutes into the game, Denver’s Nikola Jokic picked up his second foul while trying to stop Lakers star big man Anthony Davis. The Nuggets trailed 14-7. Their head coach, well, adjusted.

“I’m sure everybody thinks I’m going to take (Jokic) out,’’ Malone said. “Well, we can’t afford to take Nikola out. So we switched up the matchups and we got him on somebody not named Anthony Davis. And then we went zone, just to keep him out of foul trouble, not get him his third.’’

How did it work out? By halftime, the Nuggets trailed by only four points and Jokic still had only two fouls.

Making their shots

Boos didn’t rain on D’Angelo Russell Thursday night. But it was more than a booing mist at the end of his horrendous night.

He was 0-for-6 from 3-point range, 0-for-7 from the floor and an unfortunate symbol for the Lakers.

During the regular season, the Lakers ranked eighth best in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage with a clip of 37.7 percent. (Russell shot 41.5 percent from the distance and averaged about three 3’s per game.) But on Thursday, the Lakers shot only 18.5 percent (5-for-27) from 3-point range and in Game 1 they shot 27.6 percent (8-of-29) from long distance.

“The regular season and the postseason is two different games and two different situations,’’ James said. “… The game totally changes in the postseason and we have to be able to make that adjustment.’’

Russell, by the way, was 1-for-9 from 3-point range and 6-for-20 overall during Game 1.

In a telling snapshot Thursday, Denver forward Michael Porter Jr. seemed more accurate when launching shots over the outstretched arms of Lakers defenders.

“Man, those guys make tough shot after tough shot after tough shot,’’ James said.

Now what?

No team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit and won a playoff series.

Furthermore, the Lakers have not beaten the Nuggets since Dec. 16., 2022.

And so, looking at the possibility of a 12th straight loss to the Nuggets, how will the Lakers approach Game 4 Saturday at Crypto.com Arena?

"You play until the wheels fall off,'' James said.