Los Angeles Lakers are big winners despite being in 2-0 series hole vs. Denver Nuggets

Even as they stare into a 2-0 series hole at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, it's not all doom and gloom for the Los Angeles Lakers.

After just falling short again in Game 2 of their first-round NBA playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, there's an argument to be made that not all is lost for the Los Angeles Lakers in the series. Even though the Lakers had high hopes of potentially pushing the Nuggets to a long series, or perhaps even pulling off the upset entirely, Los Angeles is sitting in a good spot. I'm not just talking about where the Lakers find themselves as the series shifts to LA.

Even on the large scale of things, the Lakers should feel good about how they've performed in this series thus far. The Lakers are likely going to end up losing this series. If beating the Nuggets four times in seven tries was going to be difficult in itself, beating them four times in five tries seems extremely unlikely.

But even if the Lakers end up getting swept and can't extend this series much, they're having the type of performance against the Nuggets that should catapult them into a big offseason. The Lakers may not win this first-round series against the defending champions, but they're proving they are one piece away from championship contention.

The Los Angeles Lakers are clearly one piece away from championship contention

Against arguably the best team in the NBA, the Lakers are proving they can hang. Again, they may not win this series but they're going to a long way in hammering home the idea that they very well may be one All-Star acquisition away from being a championship favorite heading into next season.

That could be viewed as a big win for the team heading into the offseason. The team's performance in this series so far is cementing this idea that the Lakers could be a strong contender in the West next season. If LeBron James needed to be sold on this team's future or ability to compete for a title, that's exactly what's taking place in this series.

It's not ideal that the Lakers have blown double-digit leads in both the first two games of this series. But it should give this team some hope that even if they do end up losing this series, they're not that far off from beating the champs.

That could push this front office in a way that they weren't pushed last summer or at this past year's NBA Trade Deadline. The Lakers are proving they're one All-Star piece away from potentially winning an NBA Championship. Even if they do lose to the Nuggets in the first round, they may still come out as winners in the long run.