Another series, another virtual must-win Game 6 for the Los Angeles Lakers.
It happened in the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Lakers lost Game 5 by a wide margin despite being armed with a 3-1 series lead. They responded as well as possible, taking Game 6 by 40 points and leaving no doubt they were the superior team.
Their current scenario — up 3-2 over the Golden State Warriors after losing Game 5 on Wednesday, 121-106 — is similar, but different.
The similarity is if the Lakers fail to take care of business in Game 6 on Friday, they will be forced to play a Game 7 on Sunday afternoon in San Francisco. Road teams rarely win Game 7s, especially when they have lost the prior two contests of the series.
But what casts more doubt on L.A.’s situation is it’s going up against the Warriors — the defending NBA champs who have won four titles since the 2014-15 season. They have been in almost every conceivable situation and have overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
In the 2016 Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, they trailed in the fourth quarter of Game 6 on the road but won when Klay Thompson went into volcano mode, much as he did in Game 2 of the current series. That victory made it painfully obvious Golden State would take Game 7 at home, which it did.
By losing in Game 5, the Lakers essentially performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Golden State. They must pull the plug in Game 6, or Thompson and company will likely make a full recovery and send the Purple and Gold to the coroner.