LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach Darvin Ham usually carries a card that lists his options for plays he can call after a time out, or when he needs a 3-point shot. He didn't have it with him when the Lakers faced New Orleans on Wednesday but he had something better: a gut feeling about how to manage the closing seconds and a sense of fearlessness that could be one of his strongest assets in his first NBA head coaching job.
Foiled once when Lonnie Walker IV missed a potential game-tying 3-point shot with 2.8 seconds left in regulation, Ham circled back with another choice that probably wouldn't have been on his cue card. First, he took out Walker and subbed in Matt Ryan, who was the 15th and last player to earn a roster spot and has an unguaranteed contract. Then Ham scripted a play for Austin Reaves to inbound the ball to Ryan, whose 23-foot shot tied the score and set the stage for the Lakers' 120-117 overtime victory over the Pelicans.
The Pelicans didn't expect the play to unfold that way. Nor did any of the 18,997 fans at Crypto.com Arena who had been taken on an exhausting and exhilarating ride while the Lakers led by 16 in the third quarter and then had to claw back at the end.
