The Los Angeles Lakers squandered a chance to improve their playoff positioning after losing to the Golden State Warriors in their final home game of the regular season.
Los Angeles was shorthanded as Anthony Davis was ruled out before tipoff with headaches and nausea, while LeBron James was less than 100 percent with flu-like symptoms. However, this was a game the Lakers needed to win if they wanted to avoid the Play-In Tournament.
Now, L.A. is in danger of falling into the 10th seed as Golden State owns the tiebreaker. Head coach Darvin Ham and the rest of the group will potentially need to win two road games in order to make the playoffs.
Despite the long odds, Ham expects his team to bounce back in their final two regular season games. “If we think we are as competitive as I think we are and then we really look within, yeah, it’s a difficult situation, but it’s not impossible,” Ham said.
“Again, we just need to do what we’ve always done, look at the things, and every team is not going to be like Golden State offensively, but just look within ourselves and see how bad we want it. Just come ready to work. That’s it. It’s not a mystery or secret formula. If you are a competitor and you have to be to make it to this level, whether you’re a player, coach, executive, owner, whoever. If you are a true competitor, then you’ll make the best of a tough situation, and so I expect us to do that.”
Ham also emphasized what he wants the players to focus on the rest of the way. “Just be in the moment. That’s all you have to do. Yesterday is yesterday, tomorrow is far. Be in the moment. Just lock in on the mission at hand and that’s to attack this game with as much ferocity as possible.
“That’s all you can do and that’s all I tell my players to do, stay in the moment. Don’t worry about standings, don’t worry about this, that and the third. Just stay in the moment and do whatever we have to do, heavy lifting wise, be ready to do it as a group.”
Ham’s platitudes have become a common refrain, but now’s the time for the Lakers to step up and show they’re ready for high-stakes basketball games.
Austin Reaves focused on winning but does check Lakers’ position in standings
Before the loss to the Warriors, the Lakers’ odds of moving up looked great. Austin Reaves admitted to getting caught up in looking at the standings, though he remains focused on winning games.
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