On Thursday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers fell into a 0-3 hole in their Western Conference playoffs first round matchup vs the reigning champion Denver Nuggets, who made quick work of the Lakers in last year's conference finals, sweeping the Purple & Gold out of the postseason after their impressive run up to that point. This year, things are shaping up much in the same way, as the Lakers have raced out to double digit leads in all three contests so far this year but have eventually succumbed to the balanced and steady Nuggets attack led of course by reigning NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic.
Throughout his career, much has been made of the playoff struggles of Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell, who enjoyed arguably the best regular season of his career this season but has once again crashed back down to earth in the playoffs, capped off by a brutal 0-7 shooting performances in Game 3 that saw the former Brooklyn Net score as many points as the fans watching from their couches.
It was only a matter of time before Lakers head coach Darvin Ham–who has been the subject of some heavy scrutiny in his own right this season–was asked about the struggles of his team's point guard.
“He's gonna help us… He had a tough Game 1, had a great Game 2, tough one last night and I expect him to have another good one tomorrow,” said Ham, via Michael Corvo of ClutchPoints on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
The Lakers are on the verge of getting swept once again
The Lakers have not beaten the Nuggets since December of 2022. For those keeping score at home, that's 11 straight losses for Los Angeles when they face their foes from Denver, and the team has found a wide variety of ways to lose during that span, including falling victim to a Jamal Murray buzzer beater in Game 2 of the series on Monday after relinquishing a 20-point second half lead.
In fairness to D'Angelo Russell, the point guard is not alone in his struggles in this series for the Lakers. Both Austin Reaves and particularly Rui Hachimura have largely been missing in action so far for Los Angeles, which is likely a large part of the reason the team finds themselves in such a huge hole despite solid production from both LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Reaves, Hachimura, and Russell were integral pieces for the Lakers all season, helping catapult Los Angeles into one of the best offensive teams in the NBA down the stretch of the season. Unfortunately for fans, none of that momentum appears to have carried over into the playoffs, as the Lakers will now have just one more chance to stave off elimination and avoid being swept for the second straight year by the Nuggets.
The Lakers will next take the court, potentially for the last time in this roller coaster of a season, on Saturday evening at 8:30 PM ET from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
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