LeBron James has urged the Los Angeles Lakers to deal with the pressure, and thrive under it, as they aim to avoid a series sweep against the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers slumped to a 3-0 lead in their first-round series against the reigning NBA champions following a 112-105 loss on Thursday.
Denver have now won 11 straight games against the Lakers, who squandered a big lead in Game 2 and were no match for the Nuggets in Game 3, with Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon in fine form.
James had 26 points and Anthony Davis had 33 for the Lakers, but Los Angeles went just 5 of 27 from the floor and missed 15 of their first 16 3-pointers.
Defeat means the Lakers will have to become the first team in NBA history to rally from a 0-3 playoff deficit to keep their postseason alive.
James, though, laid down the gauntlet for his teammates.
"It's one game at a time, at this point. You lose, you go home. You come out with the mindset, 'Let's get one, force a Game 5, and then we go from there,'" James said.
"As long as you still have life, then you obviously have belief. I just think you play 'til the wheels fall off. That's what it's always about for me.
"That's a mindset, and I know [Davis] feels the same way.
"You're supposed to have anxiety and pressure, or feel the pressure.
"That's what it's about. This is what the postseason is about.
"Me and this guy [Davis], have been playing together for six years. We've been to the mountaintop. We've been close to the mountaintop. We've played a lot of games.
"We know what it takes to win. We know what it takes to win a championship and how damn near perfect you got to be. That's not like something that's so crazy to obtain."
Lakers coach Darvin Ham came under criticism from some fans following the Game 3 loss, but he paid credit to the Nuggets.
"They have a championship confidence," he said.
"That starting group has been together for a long time. Their net rating is off the charts as a starting group. They had guys step up and make plays."
The Nuggets are taking nothing for granted.
"I think every game is tougher and tougher," Jokic said.
"They were up 20 in Denver; they were up 12 today in the first half. I think it's really hard to play against the same team over again.
"You can't get bored with the style of the play or whatever. You just need to keep doing you, especially for us - because we won the last three - and just trust what we are doing and don't get bored with success because it can go wrong really quick."
Wembanyama named NBA Rookie of Year
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama capped a historic NBA season debut by being unanimously named the league's Rookie of the Year on Monday.
Wembanyama received all 99 first-place votes from selected media members to become the first player to unanimously win the award since Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns in 2015-16.
The heralded 20-year-old joins Spurs legends David Robertson (1989-90) and Tim Duncan (1997-98) as the franchise's Rookie of the Year recipients. Wembanyama is also the first player from France to earn the honour in the award's history.
Oklahoma City center Chet Holmgren was a near-unanimous choice for runner-up, as he was named second on 98 of the 99 ballots. Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller finished third in voting, followed by Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski and Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II.
Touted as perhaps the NBA's best prospect since LeBron James in 2003, Wembanyama lived up to his substantial hype by becoming the first player in league history with at least 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 blocks and 100 3-pointers made in a season. The 7-foot-4 phenom led the league in blocks (254) and blocks per game (3.6) to become just the second rookie to place first in those categories, along with Manute Bol in 1985-86.
Wembanyama is also the fourth player in NBA history with 1,500 points, 250 assists and 250 blocks in a season, joining a trio of Hall of Famers in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon and Robinson. Olajuwon and Robinson were the most recent players to accomplish the feat when they both did so in 1993-94.
In 71 overall contests, Wembanyama finished with per-game averages of 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals.
Wembanyama will have an opportunity to collect some more hardware, as he is one of three finalists for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award to be announced Tuesday. Minnesota's Rudy Gobert and Miami's Bam Adebayo are the others.
Mavericks sign Kidd to multi-year contract extension
Jason Kidd's name was rumoured to be a candidate for a recent head coach vacancy in the NBA.
The Mavericks made sure their head coach wasn't going to leave Dallas.
Kidd signed a multi-year contract extension with the Mavericks on Monday. Terms of the deal were not released.
The team announced the deal one day before Dallas faces the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of a Western Conference semi-finals series.
The 51-year-old Kidd is in his third season coaching the Mavericks and led the team to the 2023-24 Southwest Division title after going 50-32 in the regular season. Dallas then defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the play-offs to reach the conference semis for the second time in three years.
Given his success as a coach, the Los Angeles Lakers had reportedly shown interest in hiring Kidd for their recent opening after firing Darvin Ham on Friday.
While the Lakers are in a bit of a crossroads with LeBron James' future uncertain, the Mavericks appear to be on the rise as they're led by one of the NBA's most exciting players in Luka Doncic.
"I have known Jason for a long time, and I cannot think of a better, more qualified candidate to lead this team going forward," Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison said in a statement. "As a former NBA Champion Hall of Fame player, Jason brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role which cannot be duplicated. He has earned the trust and respect of our players and that of so many across the league, and I look forward to working alongside him as we continue to build upon the culture and foundation of success he's helped foster throughout his tenure as head coach."
In Kidd's first season in Dallas in 2021-22, the Mavericks won 52 games - the franchise's most since the 2010-11 NBA championship team - and reached the West finals. Kidd was the starting point guard on the Mavericks' title-winning team 13 years ago.
A 10-time All-Star as a player, Kidd is 323-296 in eight seasons as a head coach with previous stints with the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets.
Cavs hero Mitchell: 'I'm tired of losing in the first round'
Donovan Mitchell said he was "tired" of losing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs after his 39-point haul dragged the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday.
The Cavs were on the brink of an early exit as they trailed the Orlando Magic by 18 points in Game 7, only for Mitchell to turn the contest on its head with a stunning third quarter.
Mitchell outscored the entire Orlando team by two points in the third, when he poured in 17 of his 39 points.
Darius Garland then scored 10 points to help Cleveland pull clear in the fourth as they claimed a 106-94 victory, winning a playoff series without LeBron James for the first time since 1993.
Mitchell, who has been playing through a lingering knee injury for much of the season, says postseason success has always been the aim since his 2022 trade from the Utah Jazz.
"I'm tired of losing in the first round. You work too hard, we work too hard," Mitchell said. "That was my mindset, just to be in attack mode.
"I'm battling through what I'm battling through, but I could battle through it and figure it out or rehab it for the next three or four months. That's where I'm at mentally.
"We didn't make the group we made just to come in and win the first round. We accomplished one goal, now we have to do it again. That's the mindset.
"When they traded for me, it wasn't just to win a first-round series, it was to continue to push and move forward. I think that's where all of our heads are at."
Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Mitchell: "He's the guy that can pull everybody along, not just with his skill but in spirit as well.
"When you see your team-mate, a guy you care about playing that way, you don't want to let that guy down so you go out and do whatever you can to help that guy.
"We talk about how everybody has their style and their piece of leadership here and that's how Don leads, by being special in the moment. His team-mates want to be a part of it."
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