The Lakers’ season is coming down to Game 6

Another series, another virtual must-win Game 6 for the Los Angeles Lakers.

It happened in the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies after the Lakers lost Game 5 by a wide margin despite being armed with a 3-1 series lead. But they responded as well as possible, taking Game 6 by 40 points and leaving no doubt that they were the superior team.

Their current scenario — up 3-2 over the Golden State Warriors after losing Game 5 on Wednesday, 121-106 — is similar, but different.

The similarity is the fact that if the Lakers fail to take care of business in Game 6 on Friday, they will be forced to play a Game 7 on Sunday afternoon in San Francisco. Road teams rarely win Game 7s, especially when they have lost the prior two contests of the series.

But what casts more doubt on L.A.’s situation is the fact that it’s going up against the Warriors — the defending NBA champs who have won four world titles overall since the 2014-15 season. They have been in almost every conceivable situation by now, and they have overcome a 3-1 series deficit before.

It happened in the 2016 Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder when, down in the fourth quarter of Game 6 on the road, they came back and won when Klay Thompson went into volcano mode, much as he did in Game 2 of this series. That victory made it painfully obvious that Golden State would also take Game 7 at home, which it did.

By losing in Game 5, the Lakers have essentially performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Golden State. They must pull the plug in Game 6, or Thompson and company will likely make a full recovery and send the Purple and Gold to the coroner.

The reasons Lakers fans should have hope

Anthony Davis, after another strong performance, took a blow to the head late in Game 5 and had to leave the game. It was feared he may have a concussion, but according to Chris Haynes, an early evaluation revealed that he may have avoided one.

His status for Game 6 is still unknown, but if he’s able to play, there is plenty of reason for optimism.

The Warriors have struggled all season on the road, and they had the second-worst road record in the regular season at 11-30 behind the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons, who had eight road wins apiece.

Furthermore, the Lakers have been rock solid at home lately. They have won eight straight home games and 11 of their last 12, and they haven’t lost at home since March 26.

Davis has had three straight games with at least 23 points, breaking his trend of seemingly playing well only every other game, and if he’s good to go for Game 6 on Friday, one should expect him to play up to his standards once again.

LeBron James also acknowledged after Game 5 that the team will essentially treat Game 6 as if it is a Game 7 (@ 5:29).

Game 6 will reveal to the basketball world a lot about what this Lakers team is made of.

Story originally appeared on LeBron Wire