Malone on LeBron James: 'I Can't Say' It's Nuggets' Game Plan to Tire Out Lakers Star

The Denver Nuggets aren't going out of their way to force Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James to exhaust his physical reserves, according to head coach Michael Malone.

"I can't say it's part of our game plan to tire LeBron out and make him settle for shots," Malone told reporters following Denver's 119-108 win in Game 3 on Saturday. "He's a great player."

Fans have come to expect James to carry his team on his back in the playoffs, and that simply hasn't happened so far. His 23.5 points and 6.3 assists are both below his career playoff averages, and he's shooting just 24.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Against the Nuggets, the four-time MVP's efficiency is also declining as his workload is increasing. He went 8-of-19 from the field on Saturday while he logged 42:57, his highest minutes total of the Western Conference finals.

This was broadly the concern for Los Angeles coming into the postseason.

The 38-year-old James is finally starting to show his age in a noticeable way, particularly with the number of injuries he has accrued. The foot injury that took him out of the lineup for much of March is almost certainly hindering his performance now.

All of the mileage is adding up for James, and he can't simply shake off the effects like he could in earlier years.

The Lakers had to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-in tournament to qualify for the playoffs, and then they got pushed to six games in each of the first two rounds. Now, Los Angeles finds itself having to dig out of a 3-0 hole to Denver.

To Malone's point, the Nuggets don't really have to go to any extra lengths to exploit any fatigue LeBron is feeling because that is happening naturally.