In 42 playoff series – not including the NBA Finals – LeBron James has never trailed 3-0.
NBA Finals, yes. But during the conference playoffs, never.
That could happen Saturday when the Denver Nuggets take on James and the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.
Denver is up 2-0 after beating the Lakers 108-103 Thursday in Denver.
“We have an opportunity to go home and play great basketball and hold serve,” James said. “So until a team beats you four times, then you always have an opportunity to come out of it. So that’s the confidence that we should have. I know it’s going to be a tough hill to climb up, but we still have an opportunity to play good basketball and play the best basketball of the series in Game 3.”
In fact, it’s rare that a James team has been down 2-0 in the playoffs. It’s happened just eight times for a 3-5 record. In league history, teams trailing 2-0 have won just 33 out of 447 series.
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Let’s take a look at how James’ teams have responded in his career after dropping the first two games of a series
The Pistons took a 2-0 lead, and James and the Cavaliers won three consecutive games only to drop the final two. It was James’ first season in the playoffs and second career series after beating Washington in the first round.
2007 vs. Detroit Pistons
In the conference finals, the Pistons took a 2-0 lead and the Cavaliers won four in a row, sending James to the NBA Finals for the first time. Against the Pistons in Game 5, James had 48 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and scored 29 of Cleveland’s final 30 points, including 25 consecutive.
The Spurs swept the Cavs 4-0 as James got a taste of what’s needed to win a title.
Cleveland lost the first two but won three of the next four and lost to the Celtics in seven games, the start of an outstanding series between James and the Celtics.
The Warriors took 2-0 and 3-1 series leads, and you know what happened next. James and the Cavs came back and won the title. James averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists in the finals and had one of the NBA’s all-time great blocks in Game 7, helping Cleveland win the championship.
2017 vs. Golden State Warriors
The Warriors won the first three games and closed out the series in five games.
2018 vs. Boston Celtics
A young Celtics team led by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum had 2-0 and 3-2 series leads but could not take down James. He scored at least 40 points in three of the games, including 46 in a must-win Game 6. He followed that with 35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists in Game 7.
2018 vs. Golden State Warriors
The Warriors swept Cleveland, and it was James’ final season with the Cavs. He left for Los Angeles in free agency that summer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA playoffs history not on LeBron James’ side when he’s down 2-0