The Los Angeles Lakers put together an uninspired performance against the Miami Heat to drop their third straight game and ninth in their last 12. The 96 points scored was L.A.’s third worst output of the season, as Darvin Ham’s offense was completely shut down by Erik Spoelstra’s defense, especially the zone defense that has become synonymous with the Heat during Spoelstra’s tenure.
Ham pieced together yet another starting lineup, this one including LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince. D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura were unavailable. The Lakers’ first subs came at the 6:49 mark after the starters managed only nine points in just over five minutes.
The Lakers did not hit the 30-point mark in any quarter and managed only 40 points between the first and third quarter combined. After the game, Ham faced questions about how the Lakers’ offense was shut down by Miami’s zone defense.
“I mean, they pick up full court, and they fall back into it a few times. Normally after timeouts and dead balls, they are able to set it up and then communicate it well, their activity, their shifts, and all of that,” Ham said. “Their defense, they do a great job of supporting one another, that’s their MO, they come in and play hard, force you beat that physicality, beat that force that they play with.
“And I thought, at times, turnovers, we start out with, something we touched on and shootaround this morning, but it kind of stalled us out. And what it does, what zone does, forces you to focus on the details in terms of holding your screens, penetrating the gaps. Guys having to move and adjust to different openings where the zone is vulnerable.
“Try to get the ball to the middle of the floor. There was too many times where we were standing straight up with the ball over our heads instead of being in a three-point stance, forcing them to get down in a stance so we can open up some pass lanes or even quickly make a quick decision to penetrate the gaps once the basketball was swung. But we’ll look at the film, definitely trying to get better from it. And kudos to them, they played a hell of a game. They shot the ball well late. Put a lot of pressure on us. And we had some moments but couldn’t quite overcome the situation.”
This type of performance came at one of the worst possible times for the Lakers. Coming off of a blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, several Lakers players spoke about how excited they were to be returning home for an L.A.-heavy schedule in January. And to lose the first of these home games with a lackluster performance shines an even brighter light on issues plaguing the team.
Reported disconnect exists between Darvin Ham and Lakers players
Rumors have already begun circulating about a divide between Ham and the players as the Lakers’ season continues to unravel.
The head coach could potentially be on the hot seat if things don’t change, so hopefully Ham and the Lakers can figure out their issues as soon as possible.
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