Nuggets eying sweep of L.A.: ‘Give them no hope’

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — On your doorstep of reaching their first ever NBA Finals, the Denver Nuggets thunder they have to produce something Monday that has below no instances been done sooner than.

No crew has been able to brush LeBron James in a playoff series sooner than the NBA Finals and the Nuggets themselves contain below no instances performed a sweep in franchise historical past.

James has been swept supreme twice sooner than, with each occasions coming within the NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers: to the San Antonio Spurs in 2007 and to the Golden Train Warriors in 2018.

“I mean, s— that’s LeBron man,” Nuggets used ahead Jeff Green mentioned Sunday after the Nuggets met and watched movie at their crew resort. “He’s performed some unbelievable issues right through these supreme 20 years. For me, now we have to always complete it.

“It be equivalent to you can not continue to give him lifestyles. The more lifestyles you give him, the more confidence he gains and the more confidence he instills in his teammates. So for me, it has to complete [Monday].”

Guard Bruce Brown echoed the identical sentiment, saying the Nuggets also can silent be inspiring on slamming the door shut on the Lakers.

“We are searching to give them no hope,” Brown mentioned. “No confidence.”

The Lakers went through word Sunday hoping it is no longer the supreme time they word as a crew this season. They’re motivated to preserve away from being swept.

“It be a in actuality accurate ingredient,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham mentioned of the Lakers being fueled to preserve away from a 4-0 win to their season. “It be a in actuality accurate ingredient. It be a prideful crew, all yet again, extremely competitive that cares and that desires to head and assign on a appropriate point to for our fans as neatly.

“Our fans, Lakers Nation, they toughen the hell out of us and we bought to provide our section. We bought to exit there and point to up and point to out.”

Groups that contain fallen on the support of 0-3 in a series are 0-149 all-time. The Nuggets, even though, know this could well be the hardest closeout sport the franchise has ever conducted in its historical past due to this of what is at stake.

No longer prolonged after the Nuggets took a commanding 3-0 lead with their 119-108 rating in Sport 3 on Saturday, Nikola Jokic talked referring to the apprehension he modified into feeling realizing that Denver goes for the knockout punch with an all-time colossal struggling with to preserve his crew’s season alive.

“I’m no longer going to utter that I’m shy,” Jokic mentioned. “But I’m scared due to this of they contain got LeBron on the masses of facet and he’s able to doing every little thing.”

Ham says the Lakers can supreme focal point on staying alive Monday evening.

“We’re facing a hell of a ballclub, one talented bunch that’s very neatly coached,” Ham mentioned. “But now we contain issues that we can produce as neatly. The suitable ingredient now we have to always produce is accurate focal point on one sport. We produce no longer favor to be overwhelmed referring to the outdoors noise or the overall series. We accurate have to apprehension about one sport, what’s exactly in entrance of us.”

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin contributed to this fable.