LeBron James knows what it takes to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a seven-game series. But only Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the Denver Nuggets know what it’s like to do it twice in a single postseason.
With Denver completing their comeback with a Game 7 win earlier this week, they became the first team in NBA history with two 3-1 comebacks in a postseason. They’ve also yet to play a playoff series in Jokic-Murray era that hasn’t gone the distance, playing in four consecutive Game 7s.
For that reason, in addition to their incredible young talent, LeBron says the Lakers respect for the Nuggets is “out of this world,” according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“Very resilient, very confident, very driven, very well-coached team,” James said after practice Thursday when asked about Denver. “It takes a lot of energy, effort, a lot of desperation to be able to come back from a 3-1 deficit. They did it twice. So the respect level is out of this world for what we have for this ballclub. That’s how we’re going into this series: understanding what they’re capable of, where they stand.”
The Nuggets may be a little gassed after playing a 7-game series but they seemed to have plenty of energy in the close-out game, blowing out the Clippers. The Nuggets might be able to bounce back a little quicker than expected, seeing as they are by far the younger team in this matchup. Other than 34-year old Paul Millsap, the Nuggets have nobody in their rotation over the age of 30.
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