Is LeBron James fatigued? Valid questions arise as Game 3 ...

LOS ANGELES — With all due respect to Nuggets coach Michael Malone and his national media beef, we need to have a conversation about LeBron James.

Like: Is he gassed? Showing his age? Finally worn down by all those extended postseason runs? Or merely coming off a few and very uncharacteristic fourth-quarter clunkers?

This is worth our time and attention — and again, no disrespect to the top-seeded Nuggets and their well-read coach — because what LeBron does or doesn’t do from here will weigh heavily on deciding who reps the West in the NBA Finals.

Through two games in the Western Conference finals, and in no specific order of damage, LeBron has bricked shots, whiffed on 3-pointers, gotten toasted on defense and turned the ball over a few times in the fourth quarter.

This is so unlike LeBron, a four-time champion who shines this time of year and hasn’t faltered in a conference final since 2009. When he gets this deep into the postseason and is one step away from the Finals, he cashes in. Right now? He’s flaming out.

Let’s pause for a minute and apply some nuance and balance: This series, where the Lakers find themselves down 2-0, shifts to Los Angeles on Saturday (8:30 ET, ABC). As Pat Riley once said, a series doesn’t begin until the home team loses a game. LeBron has actually played well so far — averaging just shy of a triple-double at 24 points, 10.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists — and the Nuggets are wisely staying on alert defensively. But in the first two games, where the outcome was in doubt at the two-minute mark of each, his mistakes were costly.

This season, his 20th, has been all about LeBron and him winning the battle against nature and common sense. Once again, he was an All-Star and made All-NBA. His level of play, when healthy, stayed consistent and worthy of all the admiration thrown his way. The league never saw many 38-year-olds quite like him in a year where he took Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring mark.

Oh, there’s more: In the first round, the Grizzlies poked the bear — making fun of LeBron’s age — and got mauled. Then he delivered a resoundingly solid performance in the elimination of the defending champion Warriors. In that West semifinal, he had to play every other night, which raised reasonable questions about stamina, and the pace never seemed to wear him down.

LeBron takes great pride in his conditioning and preparation for a season that could last nine months. That’s what he does in October, mapping out a training and recovery plan, enhanced by a collection of therapists, trainers and nutritionists who ensure he works with a full tank.

But even a well-crafted blueprint and an army of assistants can’t win the war with Father Time, who remains undefeated. At some point, the body cries uncle. Everyone hits the wall, sometimes without much advance warning. Maybe LeBron hasn’t reached that inevitable finish line yet. Maybe, again, he just had a few sloppy fourth quarters and nothing more than that.

Yet, at his age and with his mileage, it’s fair to wonder.

He’s about to play his 281st postseason game, most of anyone in NBA history. Once again, his workload has reached into May; two seasons ago, when the Lakers lost in the first round, was the only time in his career where he failed to make it to May (out of 16 postseason trips). Also, the intensity rises considerably in spring and summer basketball, where every possession counts. Those games, coupled with the urgency, command every fiber of your body. Now multiply that by hundreds and you’ll understand the burden on LeBron.

LeBron isn’t getting any load management breaks in the playoffs either, and if anything, his playing time is getting ramped up. He’s averaging 41 minutes in his last five playoff games and saw 40 each in the two against the Nuggets.

He dismissed any suggestion of wear-down, although he did admit the obvious:

“If you’re not tired in the postseason … I mean, everyone’s tired,” he said.

Fatigue shows up in two areas of basketball: Legs and defense. Both are under suspicion, especially in the fourth quarter, where LeBron is never subbed out once the game hits the five-minute mark.

Is he getting enough lift needed on his deep shots? Well, LeBron has now missed 19 straight 3-pointers in fourth quarters, dating back to Game 2 of the first round. He still hasn’t connected on any 3s in this series (0-10 3FG). LeBron has never been elite from that distance, but his struggles now raise a bigger question: Is he taking and/or settling for too many because of fatigue?

“I mean, he can shoot all he wants,” Austin Reaves said. “It’s LeBron James. I don’t think anybody bats an eye when he shoots a shot or questions his shot. We want him taking whatever he feels comfortable with, just because he’s a winning basketball player for his whole career and that’s all he wants to do, he wants to win.”

No one on the Lakers would dare advise LeBron to do anything; that decision must come from him. It’s almost as if the Nuggets are baiting him to take that shot, which is a common and somewhat disrespectful defensive strategy used this time of year by every team — take away strengths and encourage those players to resort to their weakness or No. 2 option.

“They’re playing off him,” said Lakers coach Darvin Ham, who wants LeBron to keep shooting. “He’s a highly capable 3-point shooter.”

As for defense, the Lakers can hide him by assigning him to cover Aaron Gordon, a poor outside shooter who can only do damage from the dunking position — and that’s only when he’s aggressively looking for his shot, which isn’t often. There are times, though, when caught in switches, LeBron gets victimized by Jamal Murray (who dropped 3s on him in that hurricane of a fourth quarter in Game 2) and Michael Porter Jr.

The eyebrow-raising over LeBron can very well be temporary. As Ham reminded everyone: “You’re never as good as they say you are and you’re never as bad as they say you are. You’ve just got to treat each day like its own entity. Each day, each game is an opportunity to go out and get better. Never get too high and never get too low.”

That goes for one of the all-time greatest players, if not the greatest. If Game 3 comes and goes Saturday and LeBron hits 3s and closes out strong, so much for all the age questions, at least for another day or two.

But what if the rest of this series is more of the same?

Well, in that case, this much is certain: Those debate shows on TV will start a conversation about the Nuggets, and one of the devoted members of that audience, Michael Malone, will feel much better.

* * *

Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.