The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Could this be final game for LeBron with Lakers?
Nikola Jokic moved LeBron James out of the way as they battled for a rebound, grabbed the ball, got fouled and scored off the putback.
And all James could do was turn his palms skyward, as if to ask, “What else can I do?”
That sequence in the third quarter of Thursday night’s Game 3 of the first-round playoff series between Jokic’s Nuggets and James’ Lakers basically sums up the series: James has done his part, but the Nuggets have just been better.
There’s a quadrupleheader of playoff games today — Cleveland at Orlando, Oklahoma City at New Orleans, Boston at Miami and then the first possible elimination game of this opening round when Denver tries sweep the Lakers for a second consecutive season.
“It’s one game at a time at this point, and you lose, you go home,” James said. “You come out with the mindset, ‘Let’s get one, force a Game 5 and then we’ll go from there.’ So, as long as you still have life, then you always have belief.”
The second the Lakers’ season ends, all the talk becomes about James’ future. Most guys wouldn’t turn down a $51.4 million player option, but James certainly could.
The top-seeded Thunder can put the Pelicans in a 3-0 hole with a win in New Orleans, so a sweep is still possible there. But the two East series that take the floor won’t be sweeps: Orlando got Game 3 over Cleveland to cut that deficit to 2-1, and Miami stunned the Celtics in Boston for a 1-1 tie.
“We’re going to fight. We’re going to give ourselves a chance,” Heat forward Kevin Love said. “We’re going to have a good game plan. We’re going to pivot and figure things
out. We’re going to keep doing what’s right, making the right play . ... You can never, ever count us out.”
Celtics forward Kristaps Porzingis said Miami benefited from feeling no pressure as a No. 8 seed.
“I think it’s easier for them to play, in a way, because they are the eighth seed,” Porzingis said. “The way they were shooting the ball, the freedom they were shooting the ball with the other night ... they all felt super-free.”
CAVALIERS AT MAGIC
Cleveland leads 2-1. Game 4, 1 p.m., TNT
Need to know: Cleveland and Orlando have played seven times this season; six of those games have been decided by at least 10 points. The other was a seven-point Magic win. Despite all the blowouts — a 38-point win for Orlando in Game 3, a 27-point win for Cleveland in the regular season — the average score of a game between these two this season is Cavs 104, Magic 103.
Keep an eye on: Rebounding. Orlando dominated Game 3, outrebounding the Cavs 51-32 after Cleveland controlled the boards in Games 1 and 2.
Pressure is on: Orlando. Can’t go down 3-1 heading back to Cleveland. A win in Game 4 makes this series a best-of-three, and the Cavaliers might really start feeling some pressure at that point.
THUNDER AT PELICANS
Oklahoma City leads 2-0. Game 3, 3:30 p.m., TNT
Need to know: The Thunder are seeking their first 3-0 series lead since Round 1 of the 2013 playoffs against Houston. Since the start of the 2014 playoffs, No. 1 seeds in the Western Conference are 38-9 against No. 8 seeds and the Thunder are coming off a 32-point win in Game 2. But there is a reason for New Orleans to have hope: The Thunder were 1-3 in their last four road regular-season games.
Keep an eye on: The Pelicans’ 3-point shooting. Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones are a combined 13-of-33 from deep in this series. The rest of the Pelicans are a combined 5-of-32.
Pressure is on: New Orleans. The Thunder have been loose all season and that won’t change with a 2-0 series lead. The Pelicans have to hit back today, or else.
CELTICS AT HEAT
Series tied 1-1. Game 3, 6 p.m., TNT
Need to know: Excluding 0-0 ties to start a series, this is the fifth time in the past three years that a Celtics-Heat series has been tied. The teams have split their past 20 playoff meetings, with the average score Celtics 107, Heat 106. Miami stole home-court advantage by winning Game 2 in Boston 111-101, making 23 3-pointers.
Keep an eye on: Boston’s road success. Since May 1, 2022, the Celtics are 10-13 at home in the playoffs and 69-13 at home in the regular season — a baffling discrepancy. On the road in that span, the Celtics are 12-7 in playoff games and 5-2 at Miami. That should give the Celtics tons of confidence.
Pressure is on: Miami. The eighth-seeded Heat were the longest of long shots entering this series, and now have a chance to put Boston in a bit of trouble. Miami wasn’t great at home this season and can atone here for some of the games it let get away.
NUGGETS AT LAKERS
Denver leads 3-0. Game 4, 8:30 p.m., ABC
Need to know: There hasn’t been an instance of one team sweeping another in back-to-back seasons since 2017 and ’18, when James and the Cavaliers did that to Toronto. Now it’s on James and the Lakers to try to keep that from happening. The Lakers have tied a franchise record with seven consecutive playoff losses (all to Denver), and the Nuggets are an absurd 13-1 in their past 14 playoff games (6-0 on the road in that span).
Keep an eye on: The 3-point line. The teams combined to go 10-of-55 on 3s in Game 3, the second-fewest makes in a game this season.
Pressure is on: Obviously, the Lakers.
Carlos Alcaraz didn’t need to put his tender right arm to the test while easing to victory in his opening match at the Madrid Open on Friday.
The two-time defending champion was playing for the first time in nearly a month after his injured arm ruled him out of Monte Carlo and Barcelona. And after doubting this week he would be good to go in Spain’s capital, Alcaraz admitted he could afford to hold back a little in a 6-2, 6-1 win over Alexander Shevchenko.
“I didn’t hit my forehand 100%. I hit it softer than I used to hit it, but I think it helped me, you know, to, let’s say, stay relaxed,” Alcaraz said. “But the first thing that I was thinking about when I was stepping on the court is to stay healthy.
“I was really happy to not feel anything in the forearm, and after that I could increase my intensity a bit. It was great for me this match.”
Defending women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka faced tougher resistance in her opening match while beating Magda Linette 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on the Caja Magica clay.
This was Alcaraz’s first match since the Miami Open quarterfinals nearly one month ago. Madrid is the Spaniard’s first appearance on the European clay court swing — he struggled in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro in February — as he aims to win his first French Open title next month.
“Right now I’m thinking to be better or get better every day, and I’m thinking to be closer to my 100% here in Madrid,” the two-time major champion said. “Let’s see how it’s going to be the next few weeks. But the main thing is to be ready for next tournament and obviously to Roland Garros.”
In Madrid, the third-ranked Alcaraz is seeded second behind Jannik Sinner and both enjoyed first-round byes.
Alcaraz played with a compression sleeve on his right arm from his wrist up past his elbow. But he looked pretty much like the same aggressive player who has dominated here for the past two years and given Spanish tennis fans hope there is life after Rafael Nadal.
Alcaraz broke Shevchenko’s serve four times and will next face Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil.
Seyboth Wild upset Daniil Medvedev at last year’s French Open and should offer a stiffer challenge to Alcaraz in the round of 32.
The second-ranked Sabalenka struggled with her serve at times against Linette, but the two-time Australian Open winner struck her 10th ace on match point.
Sabalenka has either won it all in Madrid as she did in 2021 and last year, or gone out in the first round as she did in 2018, 2019 and 2022.