The Los Angeles Lakers had a chance to win their NBA Playoffs Game 2 clash but then everything crumbled after that Jamal Murray game-winner. It was the same story all over again. They got to a hot start against the Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets. Then, there were questionable schemes and rotational calls ran in the middle of the game. These moves by Darvin Ham threw players like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and, worse, D'Angelo Russell out of rhythm.
A plea to the front office
Before the final buzzer sounded for the third game of this Lakers-Nuggets NBA Playoffs series, fans were quick to hurl a lot of vitriol at their head honcho. “Fire Darvin Ham!” was the shout of the masses after their squad yet again could not win a game against Nikola Jokic's team.
In a statement in response to Anthony Davis before Game 3, Darvin Ham posits that it was not the fault of the Lakers coaches at all. He puts to light that NBA Playoffs basketball is just like that and sometimes plays get broken, via Edwin Garcia of SB Nation.
“I just think sometimes the plays don't turn out the way you think they should and the frustration sets in a little bit, but I don't think it's for us not being organized. I mean I think I have incredibly talented coaches all along my staff, we pride ourselves whether it's a practice, a shootaround a film session, a game, or whatever. We pride ourselves on being highly efficient and organized,” the Lakers head coach declared.
There is not much certainty that he still holds that belief after they got mopped once again with a 105 to 112 scoreline. However, he still has one guaranteed game to prove to the Lakers faithful that he and his staff are more than competent in running the show in California.
Lakers get molly-whopped for the third straight game
There is a lot of blame to go around whether it's to Coach Ham, D'Angelo Russell, or anyone else. However, the outcome was the same. It was still a loss. In certain aspects when the team knew they needed to improve, they still could not execute properly.
For starters, the LeBron James and Anthony Davis-led squad lost the rebounding battle by quite a lot. Nikola Jokic and the rest of his squad managed to snag a total of 51 rebounds in this NBA Playoffs matchup. The Lakers? Well, they only managed to grab 38 of them throughout the whole four quarters.
Another aspect of the game that they could not take advantage of was three-point shooting. The Lakers' perimeter defense was doing wonders by limiting the Nuggets to a horrid 17.9% clip. But, they also could not hit threes on offense as they only sank 18.5% of their shots from way out.
This squad did well in preventing their opponents from getting offensive momentum. Their eight steals and the Nuggets' 13 turnovers were a testament to this. But, they also just could not hit shots at all. The series might not be over but a lot of fans have already lost hope.
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