The Lakers are done.
They know it. We know it.
They trail their second-round playoff series against the reigning champion Thunder 3-0, a deficit no NBA team has ever recovered from. So, what’s left to play for in Game 4?
For the Lakers, there’s pride on the line. They don’t want to get swept.
LeBron James, who’s undecided about his future, doesn’t want his career to potentially end so unceremoniously.
Austin Reaves, who has free agency looming this summer after he’s expected to turn down his $14.9 million player option for next season, wants to leave a strong impression as he tries to secure a lucrative contract.
Lakers coach JJ Redick has gotten the team to fight all season. He’s not going to let them drop the rope now.
“Still think we can beat them,” Redick said after the Lakers’ 131-108 loss in Game 3.
Those words ring empty.
It’s a scream at a rock concert. A gasp underwater.
The Lakers have no chance of making a historic comeback. Not against the Thunder, who are younger and deeper and make them look like a puttering old Chevy that ran out of gas in the second half of games, where they’ve been outscored by an average of 18 points.
But don’t expect the Lakers to accept a sweep. Not this team. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about them this season it’s that they have a lot of fight.
When they’ve hit walls, they’ve bared their teeth.
When the Big 3 was an offensive liability, James embraced being the team’s third option, an unprecedented downgrade for a superstar of his caliber who could still lead a team.
That sacrifice decluttered their offense, leading the Lakers to go on a 16-2 run this spring.
Just as they were considered potential championship contenders, they shockingly lost Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Reaves (oblique) on April 2. After that, they weren’t expected to even make it out of the first round of the playoffs. Not without their two leading scorers, who averaged a combined 60 points a game.
How did they respond?
They jumped to a 3-0 series lead over the Rockets. The 41-year-old James put on his Superman cape. Luke Kennard showed he’s more than a 3-point specialist. Marcus Smart put on a defensive clinic. From top to bottom, everyone starred in their roles as they clawed their way past Houston in six games.
But all of that effort just secured a date with someone completely out of their league.
Against the Thunder, they were facing a team that they lost to by an average of 29 points a game in the regular season. They were without Doncic. But they still fought. They kept games close in the first half before crumbling.
Now they’re facing their toughest challenge.
How will they respond when things are hopeless?
If the Lakers win Game 4, they’ll just be buying themselves a trip to Oklahoma City, where they’ll play the league’s top team in one of the toughest arenas. They’ll just be delaying the inevitable. They’ll be prolonging their suffering.
But still, expect the Lakers to fight.
James didn’t become arguably the greatest player of all time by waving the white flag when things got tough.
Reaves didn’t skyrocket from being undrafted to becoming a star by rolling over when things become challenging.
Would it be embarrassing if the Lakers were swept? Not exactly. Not against this historically great Thunder team that seemingly has an endless army of fresh legs.
What would be embarrassing is if they rolled over Monday.
“Obviously, this situation sucks,” Reaves said. “But that doesn’t give us the license to quit. We gotta come in here and compete. We owe the organization that. We owe each other that. We owe our fans that. So we’re gonna come here Monday and play as hard as we can.”
Expect the Lakers to go out swinging.
How small are their chances?
Teams trailing 3-0 in a playoff series are 0-161 all time.
Against the Thunder, whom Redick called “one of the greatest teams ever,” whatever infinitesimal chance they have shrinks to something imperceptible by the human brain.
The Lakers may be swinging at the air.
But they’ll still be swinging.
Otherwise that would be a truly tragic end to a season filled with so much heart.
