After losing Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers are now in a 2-0 hole. It is very concerning, if for no other reason that they will have to win four of the next five games against a very, very good team in order to reach the NBA Finals.
But from what head coach Darvin Ham said after the game, he doesn’t seem overly concerned.
He actually praised his team’s energy, effort and urgency, as well as his team’s defense in the first two or three quarters of the contest. He also liked the way his players bounced back after falling behind by a big margin.
Ham made it sound as if the Lakers lost only because they “caught a bad stretch” — the stretch in which Denver outscored them 15-1 in the fourth quarter.
“Overall the energy was there, the effort is there, the urgency was there, we just caught a bad stretch.” Darvin Ham is proud of the #Lakers despite the outcome. pic.twitter.com/VIoParGTRZ
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) May 19, 2023
That stretch resulted in a 108-103 loss and that 2-0 deficit L.A. find itself in.
Ham does have a point
After the Lakers fell behind by 18 points at halftime of Game 1 and trailed 106-92 at the end of three quarters, they put together several quarters of good or at least adequate basketball.
They outscored Denver 34-26 in the fourth quarter, played them even in the first quarter of Thursday’s contest, won the second period by five and lost the third period by only two points. They were still ahead 79-76 heading into the final frame before the roof caved in.
When the Nuggets went on that big fourth-quarter run in Game 2, L.A. helped fuel it with bad shot selection, as well as a couple of turnovers.
In these first two games, it hasn’t been able to stay afloat when the Nuggets have spurted, partly because it has been unable to consistently hit from the outside. On Thursday it made just 26.7 percent of its 3-point attempts.
Even after that run, the team started to perk up on both ends of the floor and come to within two points before it ultimately capitulated.
So far in this series, the Lakers have gotten offensive production from just four men: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves. No one else has scored more than 10 points in either game for them, and even worse, Davis shot 4-of-15 in Game 2.
One may expect their role players, particularly D’Angelo Russell, who is a combined 7-of-19 so far in the series, to shoot better at home. But Los Angeles cannot have any more of its self-inflicted wounds and expect to get back into this series.
