The Los Angeles Lakers uphill battle against the Denver Nuggets

LeBron James’ proclamation as he got up from his cubby in the cramped visitor’s locker room inside Smoothie King Center and turned the corner towards the showers sounded more exasperated than excited.

“I’m tired as f—!”, he said. “Oh my God!”

Beating the New Orleans Pelicans in Tuesday’s play-in tournament game earned the 39-year-old James and the Los Angeles Lakers four days to rest and prepare for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET on ABC).

L.A. will need plenty of rest — and maybe some luck — to get past the defending champs. Denver has dominated this matchup dating back to last year’s Western Conference finals.

James averaged 39.5 minutes and was the primary defender on Zion Williamson in the Lakers’ two wins in New Orleans to close out the regular season and earn the No. 7 seed.

“Ain’t no more pace,” James said. “Pace yourself for what? It’s now a sprint. It’s a sprint now. We already went through the marathon.

“I’ll do whatever it takes. I mean, all the percentages and all that s—, it’s out the window. The season’s over. So it’s about just winning. Win the game.”

It’s been nearly 500 days since the Lakers have beaten the Nuggets. The West’s No. 2 seed enter Saturday’s game on an eight-game winning streak against L.A., including last season’s sweep in the Western Conference finals.

For the Lakers, none of those losses have any bearing. Coach Darvin Ham told his players as much after Tuesday’s win.

“It’s back to 0-0,” Ham said. “Obviously they’ve had a ton of success against our ball club but there’s always a new day.”

As much as optimism is warranted — overall, the Lakers have won 12 of their past 15 games — two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets command heightened awareness.

“Have to play mistake-free basketball,” James said of the series. “Make it tough on them. They’re going to try to make it tough on us, obviously.”

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