After having already suffered eight consecutive losses at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers looked to break their unfortunate streak during their first playoff game of the season. While they managed to hold on to a lead during the first quarter, it started to slip away quickly and quite precariously. And in the end, the Nuggets secured yet another win by a score of 114-103. In the post-game presser, Ham was critical about the game, yet defended his players, stating this is still an early stage and he can’t allow the Lakers stars to “beat themselves” up.

If anything, the roster needs to focus on areas where improvement is a must. “You can’t allow them to get multiple possessions,” said Ham. “Gotta try as hard as you can, as a group, to gang rebound and hold them to one possession”. Like the head coach, even LeBron James spoke out on what went wrong during the matchup.

He claimed that he and his roster played well, but they certainly could have been better. Claiming that the Lakers can’t afford “much room for error” vs. the Nuggets, especially on their home turf, there should be a need to focus on certain aspects when facing off against them. “You got to execute, you got to make shots, you got to defend and then you can’t give them extra possessions,” said LeBron. “Them having 18 second-chance points, when you’re defending already vs a high-powered offense team, that’s going to be already difficult right there on its own”.

At 1.18, the Denver Nuggets currently possess the 5 rank in having the most points per possession. The Lakers, on the other hand, rank 15. Given that it’s been also a month and two weeks since the Lakers last faced off against Nikola Jokic and Co, the current matchup may have helped serve as a reminder to what are the essentials to bear in mind during such games. Fortunately, the franchise still has five more games remaining.

With the right temperament and by learning from their mistakes, the Lakers can still manage to pull off a miracle and leave the Nuggets behind in the dust.

Darvin Ham was not sure about LeBron James’ low performance during the 2 half

Despite putting up an efficient score of 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists during the Lakers-Nuggets clash, LeBron James’ performance was still not on par with the ones he had delivered during the regular season. Despite successfully getting 10 of his 16 field goals through the hoop, the player did not go beyond that number. In fact, during the entirety of the second half, he reportedly took only 6 shots. It’s not confirmed whether it’s because he injured his elbow. When Darvin Ham was asked about the performance, he did not have a clear answer about what actually happened. “Well, I’d have to go back and look at the tape and see why that was,” said Ham.

“Again, he’s a guy that tries to play the right way, and so other guys may have had opportunities, but once I go back and look at the film, I’ll be able to give you a direct answer.”

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LeBron’s strong start during the first half, which resulted in 19 points just from his side, indicated that the player may keep the same momentum. However, it was Anthony Davis who took the lead at that point in time and ended the night with 32. From Lebron James seldom scoring during the second half to the caution about possessions, there are many things that the Lakers will need to be careful about in the next matchup 2 days from now.