The Los Angeles Lakers were finally able to snap their losing streak to the Denver Nuggets, hanging on to beat them in Game 4 to avoid being swept for the second straight year.
This game followed a similar script as the first three as the Lakers jumped out to an early double-digit lead. This time though, they kept things up offensively in the third quarter to not allow Denver to make one of their classic comebacks, which head coach Darvin Ham feels was the difference.
“We knew they were gonna make a couple of runs, prideful championship team,” Ham said postgame. “The biggest thing for us was just making it as difficult as possible, they hit some tough shots, we had some unfortunate fouls and unfortunate turnovers. But we kept the scoreboard moving as well, which you have to do.
“You’re not gonna shut anybody down completely for the entire game so you just have to be prepared for that onslaught and make sure you’re doing what you need to do and meeting force with force. Force them into tough situations, if it doesn’t work out then move onto the next play and go try to get back at them.”
Ham would later expand on what the Lakers did differently in Game 4 and his message to his team going into Game 5 now that they were able to extend the series back to Denver.
“Like I said pregame, we’ve had great stretches against this team. We’ve played for good segments, we’ve just never quite put together a complete game, whether it’s a whole quarter or a stretch of 7-8 minutes that we just kind of drop the ball,” Ham said. “But tonight, we just stayed in it, our competitiveness never wavered, our togetherness never wavered, and as I just told them, the selflessness. We found a group that made a nice little run and it was time for certain guys to come in the game and those guys who were coming in the game said no, let them rock out. So that togetherness right there, that growth, everything we discussed yesterday about being one.
“Beautiful day to be alive in order to stay alive. That was the message [Friday] and the message [Saturday]. Just win one game. And we’ve got to re-focus, re-calibrate and have that same mindset going up to Denver.”
Darvin Ham spoke with D’Angelo Russell before Lakers Game 4 win
One of the other main reasons the Lakers finally beat the Nuggets was that they got a strong performance from D’Angelo Russell. He went scoreless in Game 3 but bounced back in Game 4 with an efficient 21 points, hitting big shots specifically in the third quarter.
Ham appreciated that effort from Russell, who he talked to before the game to make sure he was aggressive.
“I loved it. I told him to ‘Go crazy; be confident. You’ve been doing this your whole life. Go crazy and be aggressive.’ He looked at me and his little nickname for me is Big Dog. He said ‘I got you, Big Dog. I got you.’ Shook my hand, gave me a hug and did what he did tonight. I’m so proud of that kid,” Ham said.
“Everything that we’ve been through as a team, on the court, off the court, injuries, everything, we deserved this tonight and we just got to bottle it up and really keep it pushing and really understand that it can be our time, why not us? So just push through to the next game, keep that focus, don’t look too far down the road, don’t worry about what just happened behind us. Just every new game is a new opportunity for us to be more competitive, more together and more selfless.”
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