The Lakers are in a position no NBA team wants to be in in the first round of the playoffs, but they are trying hard to keep the faith.
Luka Doncic wasn’t himself in Game 4 due to a virus. Thanks to some close refereeing calls in the dying minutes and the Lakers’ inability to put the game away, the team lost a crucial Game 4 116 points to 113.
Only 13 teams in NBA history have ever come back from 3-1 down in the playoffs/Finals.
LeBron James was on one of those teams in 2016, when he led the Cavs to a championship after being down 3-1 against the Warriors.
James isn’t trying to get caught up in the statistics and is just focused on getting one.
“Obviously you don’t think about winning three,” James said. “You think about just getting the next one. You know, that’s the only thing that matters because if not, obviously, the offseason begins. So, you know, it’s all about Wednesday. That’s what’s important.”
Doncic is also keeping the faith heading into Game 5 at Crypto.com Arena.
“It’s definitely disappointing. But nothing is won,” Doncic said. “We haven’t lost nothing yet. It’s the first to four wins and we just gotta still believe.”
Austin Reaves recognizes his team’s mistakes, but doesn’t think it’s too late to correct them.
“Anytime you have an opportunity to go lace them up and play again, you’re not out of it. A lot of these games, besides Game 1… could have easily gone our way if we made a couple more plays down the stretch,” Reaves said. “But we didn’t and dug ourselves in a hole.”
“The sun will come up tomorrow and we still got another day to fight.”
