In March and April, as the Los Angeles Lakers rolled off 16 wins in 18 games and seemed to be turning into the best version of themselves, it looked like perhaps LeBron James was going to end up remaining a member of their roster past this season. But now, the Lakers trail the Oklahoma City Thunder 3-0 in the second round of the playoffs, and James’ impending free agency is looming.
But first things first — the Lakers need to avoid a sweep by winning Game 4, which will take place on Monday. James hasn’t played up to his standards for much of the series, but even though he shot 7-of-19 in the team’s 131-108 loss in Game 3, he hasn’t been terrible overall either.
He said after Game 3 that he isn’t necessarily hanging his head despite the situation his team is currently in.
“I wouldn’t say I’m angry or disappointed,” James said. “I mean, obviously you’re disappointed in the simple fact of being down 3-0 obviously. But I mean, we still got life and that’s all you can ask for. And we gotta be much better on Monday. See what happens.”
The Lakers might need a monster performance from James on Monday in order to stay alive in this series. He hasn’t asserted himself a lot offensively thus far against Oklahoma City, but perhaps his pride will kick in on Monday and he will be able to avoid the fourth postseason sweep of his career.
He finished Game 3 with 19 points, eight assists, six rebounds and one steal.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James on his mood after Lakers’ Game 3 loss to Thunder