Marcus Smart on how Lakers need to come out in Game 4 on Monday

The Los Angeles Lakers are in a 3-0 hole to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, and it seems as if just about everyone has given up on them winning even one game in this series. Game 4 will take place at Crypto.com Arena on Monday, and it seems as if the outcome of that contest is already a foregone conclusion.

Even if the Lakers do end up winning Game 4, the thinking seems to be that it wouldn't do them any good, as they will only end up getting beaten up in Game 5 in Oklahoma City. But veteran guard Marcus Smart said after Game 3 on Saturday that Los Angeles needs to play with a true sense of desperation and leave it all out on the court in Game 4, via Lakers Nation.

“Energy. We gotta stay with it. Gotta be even more desperate than we are,” Smart said after Game 3. “We gotta stay together and stay composed and what we call emptying the tank, just leave it all on the court.”

Smart is one player who needs to step things up if the Lakers are to extend this series. So far in the first three games that have been played, he's shooting just 31.4% from the field and 23.5% from 3-point range. The team needs all the offense it can get, especially in the second half, as it has been dominated by the Thunder after halftime in all three games so far.

On Saturday, it was outscored 74-49 in the second half after it held a 59-57 lead at halftime. Game 3 was the second straight game in which it had the lead early in the third quarter, only to be outscored by double digits in the third quarter. This trend absolutely must be reversed if the Lakers are to win on Monday.