LeBron James is now a loss away from a bad playoff first in his career

This is the Morning Win, by Andy Nesbitt.

LeBron James and the Lakers were never in last night's Game 5 against the Suns in Phoenix. They trailed by 30 points at halftime and went on to lose by 30 points, 115-85, to fall behind in the series 3-2.

Now LeBron finds himself in an unfamiliar position as the series shifts back to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Thursday night - he's a loss away from his first, first-round exit of his legendary career.

That's pretty stunning considering all the playoff success LeBron has had since entering the league as a 19 year old back in 2003. He missed out on the playoffs his first two years in Cleveland but has been there every year since. He's been a part of seven first-round sweeps and has been to the Finals like 900 times (OK, maybe just 10 times, including eight straight trips).

If you're wondering, Michael Jordan lost in the first round two times - he was swept by the Celtics both in 1986 and in 1987. Those were best out of five series.

LeBron will want to forget all about last night as he shifts his attention to saving his team's season tomorrow night. That 30-point halftime deficit was the worst of his playoff career and the worst playoff halftime deficit for the Lakers since 1992.

It was an uuuuuuugly night for the defending champs. They played without Anthony Davis, who sat with a strained groin he suffered in Sunday's Game 5 loss. We don't know his status yet for Game 6 but if he's out again this could be a quick exit for the Lakers.

It would be pretty wild to see LeBron leave the playoffs so early. He has become a fixture in the postseason once his teams are in it. That's what makes me think you can't count the Lakers out just yet, even if AD is out. LeBron is such a special talent and one of the best players to ever do it and counting him out has never really been a smart thing to do. These are the moments he seems live for but even this could be too much for him.

The Lakers, of course, won the title last year in the bubble and had a very quick turnaround to the start of this season. I'm not making excuses for them but it makes sense for this team and for LeBron to be wiped out a bit by now.

It also doesn't help that they're facing a young (besides Chris Paul) Suns team that is hungry to make a first-round statement and advance.

It all makes for a very difficult challenge for King James, one unlike anything he's experienced in his career.

Is it going to be hard for LA to fight back and win this series if they can't get AD back?

Yes, absolutely.

Can LeBron put his team on his shoulders again and win the next two games?

Mayyyybbbeeeee?

Either way, tomorrow night's game is going to be a ton of fun.

Quick hits: Rivers' perfect reaction to Dame's miss… Lillard's unreal highlights… Barkley's savage nickname for Anthony Davis… And more.

- Damian Lillard went off in last night's Portland-Denver game and the Nuggets' Austin Rivers had the perfect reaction to one of Dame's rare misses.

- By the way, here are all the great highlights from Dame's night.

- Charles Barkley came up with a savage nickname for Anthony Davis.

- Steven Ruiz explains why the Bills trading for Zach Ertz wouldn't be the no-brainer that it seems it would be.

- Brian Kalbrosky has his latest NBA mock draft.