The Denver Nuggets must summon the no-quit mentality that has carried them this far as they look to dent the Los Angeles Lakers' 2-0 cushion in Game 3 of their Western Conference finals on Tuesday.
A daunting uphill battle for some is nothing new for a Nuggets side that clawed their way back from 3-1 down to see off the Utah Jazz, before doing the same in their remarkable win over the Los Angeles Clippers in the semi-finals.
Encouragement for the Nuggets in Game 2 came with the manner of its conclusion, the Lakers requiring a buzzer-beater from Anthony Davis over back-up center Mason Plumlee to seal a 105-103 win following a Denver fightback.
"Losing sucks," said Denver coach Michael Malone. "That's the bottom line, losing sucks. Some guys like to win, some guys hate to lose. I think we're a group of guys that hate to lose.
"The only thing you can talk about is we were in the game. They had to rely on a great shot by a great player to beat us at the buzzer. But as long as we're putting ourselves in position to win games, that's all you can ask for.
"One thing I know about our group, even though we are disappointed, frustrated, angry, we'll use that motivation to come out and try to take Game 3."
Overturning a deficit against the Lakers represents a different proposition, particularly with LeBron James' 22-0 career record when his team have led 2-0 in a best-of-seven series. In addition, Los Angeles have not lost a best-of-seven series from leading 2-0 since the 1969 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.
The last time the Nuggets progressed after going 2-0 down was in 1994 in a best-of-five series against the Seattle SuperSonics.
"I mean, we are here [as] underdogs," said Denver's Nikola Jokic. "That is how you say, underdogs? I mean, we need to fight. That's our only chance. They were up 15, isn't it, or 16? I don't know how much they were up.
"We could just call it a game and quit. I think we just want to give the fight. Maybe it's going to be 30 points, but fight needs to be there, and effort."
Jokic was the Nuggets' top performer in Game 2 with 30 points, six rebounds and nine assists, taking his scoring average to 25.5 points per game in the series after going 17 of 34 from the field and 16 of 19 from free throws.
The Serb scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter to give the Nuggets the lead and an opportunity to win the game, only for Davis to come up with a decisive effort in the dying moments.
"I just gotta take my hat off to that Joker, man," said Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA.
"I hope America's getting a chance to see how great a player this kid is. I mean, to single-handedly score 11-straight points and will your team? He takes an All-Defensive guy down in the post and says, 'We need a basket, I'm going to take it'.
The Nuggets restricted the Lakers to 44.6 per cent shooting and 36.1 per cent on three-pointers in Game 2, having allowed them 53 per cent overall and 44.6 per cent from deep in Game 1. Another area of improvement came with the 24 turnovers they forced, compared to 12 in the opener.
LeBron James and Davis, however, saw to it that the Lakers dominated on boards, with their team collecting 13 offensive rebounds.
Davis has averaged a team-high 34 points over the first two games, going 23 of 44 from the field and 19 of 22 from the line.
Denver, who led the Lakers 33-19 in free throw opportunities in Game 2, will again turn to Jamal Murray for playoff inspiration after 25 points in his last outing.