LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are now down 3-1 in their playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Though the series will shift back to LA, the odds of coming back from such a deficit aren’t in their favor.
However, Dorian Finney-Smith believes the Lakers can pull it off, and it’s all because James has been here before.
LeBron James Has Come Back While Down 3–1
After the Lakers lost Game 4, Finney-Smith relayed his belief that the Lakers can come back during his postgame press conference because James has done it before.
“I’ve seen Bron do it already,” Finney-Smith said. “We still feel like we can win this series. We just got to win one game at a time. Obviously, we put ourselves in harm’s way, but we got to figure it out as a team.”
This refers to nine years ago when James and the Cleveland Cavaliers were down by the same deficit against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. The Cavaliers managed to come all the way back to win the series, though they definitely had to earn it in Game 7.
Something that worked in the Cavaliers’ favor was Draymond Green’s foolish actions – hitting James in the groin – that got him suspended for Game 5, then Andrew Bogut hyperextended his knee, which knocked him out of the series.
The Lakers don’t have any luxury like that heading into Game 5, but Finney-Smith certainly isn’t wrong here. If there’s a player in the NBA who can work miracles, it’s James. He has won so many playoff series, and, as Finney-Smith alluded to, he has done this before, although that was only once, and he was 31 when it happened.
Now, James is 40, and he plays on a very talented but also very flawed roster. Even worse, the Timberwolves are the one team that can both exploit the Lakers’ biggest hole, their weak frontcourt, and match them in terms of star power.
For the Lakers to come back, their stars will have to outplay the Timberwolves, and the Lakers will have to adapt to the Timberwolves going right at their frontcourt. Head coach JJ Redick found a lineup that works in James, Finney-Smith, Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura. The challenge will be finding another one.
At this point, the Lakers are desperate for anything, but if there’s one player who thrives when his back is against the wall, it’s LeBron Raymone James.