Battle for Survival: Can LeBron James Lead the Lakers to Victory?

The Lakers’ playoff campaign is off to a disappointing start. They have lost the first two games of the series against the Nuggets and are now headed back to Crypto.com Arena for the third game. While a majority of analysts and NBA pundits have already discounted the LA franchise from the first-round series, TNT’s Jamal Crawford is still keeping his hopes alive for the team, simply because of LeBron James.

Eyes on the Prize: The LeBron Factor

During a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, the 44-year-old said that he is not yet willing to write off the Lakers because anything can happen when you have King James on your squad. Crawford said that even though the Lakers blew off their lead in both games, there was a silver lining in Game 2. Similar to what Shannon Sharpe had to say about the team combination, Crawford believes that along with LeBron and Anthony Davis, the other guys on the court will have to step up to the plate if they wish to beat the Nuggets.

As for their chances of going deeper into the season, Crawford said, “As long as you have LeBron James on the team, you have a chance. Like when I saw the difference between Game 1 and Game 2, it’s when game one, the Lakers had the lead and it evaporated like that…The second game, it was different, because the other guys stepped up first.”

The Home Advantage: Defend or Perish

Crawford pointed out that in the second game, the team was more focused on getting Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, and the team’s role players involved in the game by letting them take more shots.

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