Lakers look for boost after falling behind Nuggets in Conference Finals

LOS ANGELES(AP) — Although the Los Angeles Lakers’ late-season transformationis one of this NBA season’s best stories, LeBron James and histeammates finally appear to be running out of steam in the WesternConference finals.

They’ve alsofinally run into an opponent capable of making sure this storydoesn’t have a completely happy ending.

After lookingweary and mistake-prone in Denver during their first back-to-backlosses in over two months, the Lakers face a must-win Game 3Saturday.

Los Angeleshas been on a prolonged roll ever since the trade deadline, going27-12 while surging into the playoff picture, winning a play-ingame and knocking out two higher-seeded opponents in six games. Butthat roll has finally been slowed by Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray andthe respect-hungry Nuggets, whose superior late-game play was thereason they’re up 2-0.

“This is notthe NCAA Tournament,” James said. “It’s the first team to fourwins. We have an opportunity to go home and play great basketballand hold serve. Until a team beats you four times, you always havean opportunity to come out of it. So that’s the confidence that weshould have. I know it’s going to be a tough hill to climb up, butwe still have an opportunity to play the best basketball of theseries in Game 3.”

The Lakersinsist they’re not as tired as they looked for stretches of bothgames in Denver, when they settled for too many jumpers, ran thecourt less effectively and lost a fraction of their defensiveintensity. James and Anthony Davis both say the fatigue of thisrelentless two-month sprint toward title contention isn’t finallytoo much for a team that altered half of its roster just threemonths ago.

“If you’renot tired in the postseason...,” James said after LA’s 108-103 lossin Game 2. “I mean, everybody’s tired.”

But James’weariness appears to be evident in his jump shot — and in hisreliance on that shot instead of the more physically demanding taskof driving to the hoop. The top scorer in NBA history went 0 for 6on 3-pointers in Game 2, making him 0 for 10 in the series. He hasalso missed 19 consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth quarter overthe Lakers’ last 11 playoff games.

On top of thefatigue from the heavy workload for his 38-year-old body, Jamesalso sprained his left ankle in the third quarter of Game 2,although said he would be fine for Game 3.

Davis isprone to offensive inconsistency, and the stress of leading theLakers’ defensive effort against mighty Denver may have affectedhim — although he insists it didn’t. What’s clear is that Davis’18-point performance on 4-of-15 shooting in Game 2 isn’t enoughfrom the Lakers’ franchise big man, particularly after his 40-pointeffort in Game 1, when the Lakers’ defense was much worse.

The Lakersare hoping for a big boost from their success-hungry home fans whenthey get back to their downtown arena, where they’re 7-0 at homesince the regular season ended.

“The higherthe levels you get to, you’re going to face much, much tougherteams,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “No disrespect to Memphis orGolden State, but (Denver) has been at the top of the food chainfor a reason. Not just this year, but the last few years. So we’vedefinitely got our work cut out for us, but we’re going to getbetter from this, as we always do, and we’ll bounce back on ourhome floor.”

The Lakershad lost back-to-back games just once — in mid-March — since thetrade deadline. Their late-season turnaround is still stunningafter the additions of D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, JarredVanderbilt and Malik Beasley along with the departures of RussellWestbrook, Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn, opening up playingtime for vital supporting players Austin Reaves and DennisSchröder.

But all thatquick work might not be enough to overcome the steady togethernessof the Nuggets, who have handled the Lakers much better than theirown inferiority complex.

Coach MichaelMalone curiously punctuated their gritty Game 2 victory withsarcastic jabs about the basketball world’s supposed ignorance oftwo-time NBA MVP Jokic’s talents, along with criticism of a“national narrative” he believed was too impressed by the Lakers’Game 1 rally.

Thewinningest team in the West is making its fifth consecutive playoffappearance after its sixth straight winning season, yet Maloneappears to be paying close attention to television’s talking headswhile pounding the nobody-believes-in-us narrative that permeatessports, even for professional powerhouses like the Nuggets and theSuper Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Perhapsthat’s because these Nuggets have never been here before: They’reas close to the NBA Finals as this franchise has ever been, up 2-0on a 17-time NBA champion franchise with a global brand and thesport’s most accomplished active player.

EliminatingLeBron and the Lakers would be a signature achievement for thisDenver group, and it has a chance to all but lock up theachievement with a win in Game 3.

“It’sdefinitely going to be hostile there,” Nuggets forward MichaelPorter Jr. said. “They still feel like they’re in this series,obviously. It’s the first to four. It’s not the first to two.They’re not going to just roll over, and now they’re back inLA.”