LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers have now had some time to take a step back after their first-round playoff series loss to the Denver Nuggets. It was the second consecutive year the Lakers fell to the Nuggets and of course there is sure to be some frustration.
The Lakers led at halftime of all five games in the series and had multiple opportunities to steal games in Denver, but ultimately came up short. LeBron was excellent throughout the series, but after having some time to reflect, he couldn’t help but think about where the Lakers came up short.
On the latest episode of his Mind The Game Podcast with JJ Redick, LeBron spoke on the series with the Nuggets as a whole, lamenting the mistakes the Lakers made but ultimately admitting that the better team won:
“Where am I emotionally right now? I don’t know to be honest. I have no idea where I am emotionally right now. Obviously going against the defending champions in the first round is always gonna be a difficult challenge, we knew that coming into it. But f—, we had so many opportunities man. And to lose in five, two of them being game-winners by Jamal [Murray] and his greatness, but we had so many opportunities.
“Obviously being up 20 in Game 2 in their building and losing that game. Having so many opportunities in other games, you just feel like shit if one play here, one play there, could have made a hell of a difference. But when you’re playing against a team like that you have zero room for error and I believe we made too many errors in some of the games. I seen some crazy ass stat about the minutes that we were leading in the series, compared to losing in the series. But we both know that’s a little bit of fool’s gold because most playoff games come down to one or two, three or four possessions and if you’re not able to capitalize on those possessions or make plays during those possessions, that’s how you lose games.
“Emotionally I feel like we were right there, obviously in every game, to be able to steal a game. But also at the same time, we weren’t and that’s why we lost the series. Shit hurts obviously. Being the competitor I am, the competitor you are, you’ve been in multiple series in your career as well. But f— man, I feel like a couple plays here a couple plays there, we could’ve won the series. But the better team won, the better team won for sure. Give credit where credit is due.”
It is hard to argue with the points LeBron made. The Lakers had numerous chances in different games to come out on top but continually came up short when it mattered most. As is the case with most competitors like James, the focus after is always on what could have happened, especially when every game was so close.
In the end, there is nothing the LeBron or the Lakers can do about it now except to use the offseason to better themselves and get ready to take down the Nuggets and everyone else in the NBA next year.
