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Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd moved to defend his players after they fell 3-0 behind in their Western Conference Finals series with Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
Dallas can be backed at 18/1 to mount a comeback and win the series, while Golden State are 5/7 to win the NBA Championship outright.
The Mavs went down 109-100 at home in Game 3 on Sunday and they are now 3-0 behind in the best-of-seven series.
Dallas did hold a nine-point lead during the second quarter, but the Warriors had re-established a lead by the halfway point and they pulled clear in the second half to secure the win.
Dallas have fought back in both of their previous series this year and they trailed 2-0 against top seeds Phoenix Suns in the conference semi-finals, but no team in the history of the NBA has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit.
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Kidd appears resigned to the fact Dallas' championship dreams are over for another year, but he refused to criticise his players.
The Mavs were underdogs going into their first-round clash with Utah Jazz and then Phoenix but managed to come through, and Kidd was quick to point out they have exceeded expectations this season by reaching this stage.
"This is just the beginning of this journey," Kidd told reporters post-game, via Slam Online. "I know you guys (the media) have us winning the championship before the season started. And that's a joke if you didn't get it.
"This is a lot bigger than just this one game or this series. This is huge for our franchise because none of you guys had us here (the Conference Finals)."
Game 4 takes place on Dallas on Tuesday and the Mavs will be looking to hit back and avoid a series sweep.
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