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5 Things: What Can Change?

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1) Be a multi-dimensional scoring team. 3 guys took 59 out of 79 shots for the Lakers. That’s a very one-dimensional offense for the playoffs and it won’t work against Denver. Maybe against other teams but not this one. Speaking of shots, the Nuggets out attempted us by a whopping +23 (102 -79). As we’ve all said and read turnovers and offensive rebounds were our Achilles Heel…again…last night.

2) Better staggering. Any 2 out of LBJ, AD, Reaves and DLo need to be on the floor at all times. We cannot win the just 1 superstar and 1 star role-player minutes without having 2 of that group out there. Figure it out, coach.

3) Box…out…Aaron…Gordon…for @#$%’s sake!!!! Dude had 6 offensive rebounds and led Denver in +/-. He kills us on the regs. Everyone focuses on how great Jokic and Murray are, and deservedly so, but the other real issue for us is keeping AG off the glass and neutralizing his impact.

4) Don’t force the 3 ball game. It’s not like Denver shot lights out from 3 because they didn’t need to. 15-42 (good for 35.7% is fine and all but we shot a far worse (8-29, bad for 27.6%) and the Nuggets outscored us by +10 PIP and and +7 fastbreak points. Can’t lose all these stat categories and expect to win. Make Denver, especially Jokic, play defense by attacking him from the perimeter. That’s not necessarily all on AD, either.

5) Get Rui involved in someway other than occasionally guarding Jokic. 2-4 in 31 minutes with 3 rebounds and an assist. Our 4th highest paid player needs to generate more, well, anything at all. The team needs to figure out a way for him to generate more offense and rebounding, some of that is on him and his effort/focus but some of that is on us choosing to attack the same way over and over and over again.

Lakers’ promising start turns into same depressing story vs. Nuggets

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Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham’s message to his team entering its rematch with the defending champion Denver Nuggets was to learn from the past and, more importantly, move forward.

That last part will be difficult for the Lakers to do when their tortured history with the Nuggets continues to repeat itself.

In many ways, the Lakers’ 114-103 loss to the Nuggets in Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series felt like an extension of the previous eight losses. Nikola Jokić was the best player on the floor, with Los Angeles finding no way to prevent him from scoring easily or generating wide-open layups and 3s for his teammates. Jamal Murray hit circus shot after circus shot. Once the Nuggets ratcheted up their intensity and execution in the second half, they were on a different level than the Lakers. D’Angelo Russell struggled and looked unplayable.

Denver has now beaten the Lakers nine straight times, with little indication that will change anytime soon.

“We could have been better,” LeBron James said. “I thought we played some good ball tonight, but we could’ve been better. We know … we just don’t have much room for error versus this Denver team, especially on their home floor. It’s just a team that’s been through everything. Obviously, they’re the defending champions, so you gotta execute, you gotta make shots, you gotta defend. And then, you can’t give them extra possessions.

Ham explains why he didn’t bench Russell in fourth quarter of Game 1

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“D’Lo is a huge reason why we’re in the first place,” Ham said. “I’m not going to bail out on my player just because he’s missing the shots he normally makes. Those same shots were going in against New Orleans and other teams he’s played and games he’s played in to help us get to this point. It wasn’t his night. Shooters are going to have nights like that.

“But I want him to remain aggressive. That was a good thing I saw, he remained aggressive. His energy remained great, he remained positive. We’ll go back and try to get better from the film and try to have a better performance in Game 2.”

For Saturday’s game, this was a decision that made sense for multiple reasons.