Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) stands courtside during the first half of Game 3 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Denver Nuggets in Los Angeles, Thursday, April 25 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Nikola Jokic knocked LeBron James out of the way as they fought for a rebound, got the ball, got fouled and scored on the rebound.
And all James could do was turn his palms to the sky, as if asking “what else can I do?”
This sequence in the third quarter of Game 3 of the first round of the NBA playoff series between Jokic's Denver Nuggets and LeBron's Los Angeles Lakers basically sums up the series. James did his part. The Nuggets just got better.
READ: NBA: Nuggets on the brink of sweeping Lakers with Game 3 victory
There is a quadruple of NBA playoff games on Saturday – Cleveland at Orlando, Oklahoma City at New Orleans, Boston at Miami and then the first possible elimination game of this opening round when Denver takes a 3-game lead. 0 in the series in Los Angeles to try and sweep the Lakers for the second consecutive season.
“It’s one game at a time right now, and if you lose, you go home,” LeBron said. “You go out with the mentality, let’s take one, force a Game 5 and we’ll go from there. So as long as you still have life, you will always have belief.”
The top-seeded Thunder could put the Pelicans in a 3-0 hole with a win at New Orleans on Saturday, so a sweep is still possible there. But the two East series taking place on Saturday won't be eliminations: Orlando won Game 3 over Cleveland to cut the deficit to 2-1, and Miami got Game 2 in Boston to tie the latest edition of that rivalry.
READ: NBA: Jokic leads Nuggets over LeBron and Lakers in NBA playoff opener
“We will fight. Let’s give ourselves a chance,” Heat forward Kevin Love said. We will have a good game plan. Let's pivot and figure things out. Let's keep doing what's right, making the right move. … You can never, ever exclude us.
Celtics forward Kristaps Porzingis said Miami benefited from not feeling pressure as an eighth seed.
“I think it’s easier for them to play a certain way because they’re the eighth seed,” Porzingis said. “The way they threw the ball, the freedom with which they threw the other night…everyone felt super free.”
Cleveland's 38-point loss on Thursday was its biggest of the season; the Cavs lost 37 and 33 to Miami in the regular season.
“Lesson learned,” Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff said. “We will be better on Saturday.”
KNIGHTS IN MAGIC
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) grabs a rebound alongside Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, left, during the first half of Game 3 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Thursday. – Friday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. AP Photo/John Raoux)
Cleveland leads 2-1. Game 4, 1 p.m. EDT, TNT
– NEED TO KNOW: Cleveland and Orlando have played seven times this season and six were decided by at least 10 points. The other was a seven-point Magic victory. Home teams are 5-2 in those seven games, and somehow, despite all the losses — a 38-point win for Orlando in Game 3, a 27-point win for Cleveland in the regular season — the average score of a game between these two this season are Cavs 104, Magic 103.
– KEEP AN EYE ON: Recovery. Orlando dominated Game 3, outscoring the Cavs 51-32 after Cleveland completely controlled the boards in Games 1 and 2.
– WATCH INJURIES: Cleveland's Dean Wade (knee) was ruled out for the rest of the first round and Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell also had his knee – a problem for weeks – on the ice after Game 3.
— THE PRESSURE IS ON: Orlando. I can't lose 3-1 back to Cleveland. A win in Game 4 makes this a best-of-three series, and the Cavaliers could really start to feel some pressure at that point.
THUNDER ON PELICANS
Oklahoma City leads 2-0. Game 3, 3:30 p.m. EDT, TNT
– NEED TO KNOW: The Thunder are seeking their first 3-0 series lead since the first round of the 2013 playoffs against Houston. Since the start of the 2014 playoffs, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference is 38-9 against the No. 8 seed and the Thunder are coming off a 32-point victory in Game 2. But one reason for New Orleans to have hope — the Thunder were 1- 3 in their last four regular season road games.
– KEEP AN EYE ON: The Pelicans' 3-point shot. Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones are a combined 13 of 33 at the end of this series. The rest of the Pelicans are 5-of-32.
– INJURY WATCH: New Orleans is still without Zion Williamson (hamstring).
– THE PRESSURE IS ON: New Orleans. The Thunder have been loose all season and that won't change with a 2-0 series lead. The Pelicans will have to respond on Saturday, or else.
CELTICS IN THE HEAT
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum drives to the basket past the Miami Heat during the first half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Series tied 1-1. Game 3, 6 p.m. EDT, TNT
– NEED TO KNOW: Excluding 0-0 ties to start a series, this is the fifth time in the last three years that a Heat-Celtics series has been ended. The teams have split their last 20 playoff games — the average score of those games is Celtics 107, Heat 106. Miami stole home-field advantage by winning Game 2 at Boston 111-101 and making 23 3s in that game.
– KEEP AN EYE ON: Success on Boston roads. As of May 1, 2022, the Celtics are 10-13 at home in the playoffs and 69-13 at home in the regular season — a baffling discrepancy. On the road in that span, the Celtics are 12-7 in the playoffs and 5-2 in Miami. That should give the Celtics a lot of confidence.
– INJURY WATCH: The Heat are without Jimmy Butler (knee), Terry Rozier (neck) and Josh Richardson (shoulder).
– THE PRESSURE IS ON: Miami, oddly enough. The eighth-seeded Heat have made the longest shots from long range in this series and now have a chance to put Boston in trouble. Miami hasn't done very well at home this season and can make up for some of the games they missed here.
NUGGETS AT LAKERS
Denver leads 3-0. Game 4, 8:30 p.m. EDT, ABC
– NEED TO KNOW: There has been no case of one team beating another in consecutive seasons since 2017 and 2018, when James and the Cavaliers did it to Toronto. And now it's up to James and the Lakers to try to prevent that from happening. The Lakers have tied a franchise record with seven consecutive playoff losses (all to Denver), and the Nuggets are an absurd 13-1 in their last 14 playoff games (6-0 on the road in that span).
— KEEP AN EYE OUT: The 3-point line. The teams combined to shoot 10-for-55 from 3 in Game 3, the second-worst performance in a game this year (Charlotte and Portland shot 10-for-56 on Feb. 25). Of the last 6,229 NBA games over the past five years or so, only one has had fewer 3s than Nuggets-Lakers on Thursday (one Suns-Clippers game had just nine on June 26, 2021).
– WATCH INJURIES: Denver lost backup guard Reggie Jackson to a sprained ankle late in the third quarter of Game 3. He averaged 8.3 minutes off the bench in the series.
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– THE PRESSURE IS ON: Obviously the Lakers, but it's more than just in the court sense. Once the Lakers' season ends, all the talk will be about James' future and where he will play from here on out. Most guys wouldn't turn down a $51.4 million player option, but James — already a billionaire — certainly could.
