The Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves in an uphill battle that, to this point in NBA history, has proven impossible to claw back from. After an 11-point loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, the Lakers are now on the brink of elimination.
According to ESPN’s SportsCenter, no team has ever emerged victorious when trailing a playoff series 3-0, with those teams owning a combined record of 0-149. Yet, while LeBron James and company might be holding out hope that the Lakers can ultimately rewrite the history books, franchise legend Magic Johnson is already talking as if the team’s postseason elimination is inevitable.
In fact, Johnson went as far as to issue an apology to Denver following their latest route to Los Angeles, admitting that “they are a better and more talented team” than the Lakers.
Johnson’s affinity for the Nuggets didn’t stop there. The three-time league MVP proceeded to fire off a slew of pro-Nuggets tweets, including one where he sounded all but ready to crown Denver as NBA champions.
“When you have two superstars like [Nikola] Jokic and [Jamal] Murray play at a high level at the same time like they are unstoppable,” Johnson tweeted. “If they continue that in the NBA Finals, the Nuggets will be world champions!”
Through three games, Jokic has been his typical MVP-caliber self, posting a triple-double in all but one contest and averaging 27 points. As for Murray, he’s seen a meteoric uptick in scoring this series.
After posting a commendable 24.8 points per game in the Suns series, Murray has proceeded to torch the Lakers to the tune of 35 points per game, including back-to-back 37-point showings.
If history does ultimately repeat itself and the Nuggets send the Lakers packing in Game 4, they will have their hands full come finals time—whether that be against the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics. Yet, with the way the team is firing on all cylinders at the moment, it’s tough to envision a scenario where either Miami or Boston is able to best Denver in a seven-game series.
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