The Lakers had plenty of chances to gain the upper hand in the team’s first-round series against the Nuggets and LeBron has spoken honestly about the franchise’s mistakes.
LeBron went deep about the series against Denver on the latest episode of Mind the Game, as it marked the second straight time the Lakers were eliminated from the postseason by the Nuggets.
“Where am I emotionally right now? I don’t know to be honest. I have no idea where I am emotionally right now,” LeBron said. “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,” he continued. “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. Sh*t 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.”
Due to the Lakers’ inability to close out games in the second half, the Nuggets were able to comfortably move onto the second round after winning the series 4-1.
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