The Los Angeles Lakers once again fell flat against the Sacramento Kings, their fourth loss in four outings this season against the capital city rivals. As it has gone in every matchup this season, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham and company appeared competitive in the stat sheet and for a majority of the game, but one bad quarter has let things slip. On Wednesday, it was a 17-point third quarter that ended things for L.A.
The Lakers shot well from the field and from three and weren’t significantly outrebounded like they have been in a number of games this season. This meant Ham had to look a little deeper to find the reasons for the loss, as nothing stands out in film or on the stat sheet.
What the Lakers head coach landed on was a lack of emphasis on the little things, as he feels they did all the major things well, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“One of the things I just told them is we can’t skip details. We had some guys that didn’t shoot the ball well, got great looks they normally make. But just in the sense of team basketball, just continuing to have a next play mentality. If you turn the ball over or it’s a quick shot or our shot selection is a little bit off, you have to recalibrate and try to play the right way. And do it as a unit, not just individually try to get yourself going. If you’re trying to get yourself going and you’re staying organized within what we’re supposed to be doing, then great. But we can’t skip the details, the normal habits defensively. It started with transition defense, making sure we get in position. Turnovers got the best of us in the second half. But I have to go back and watch the game, obviously. But just the details. You’re in their building, they’re rocking and rolling, they put themselves in position to come in with a lot of energy the way they played Milwaukee yesterday. So couldn’t rely on them to be fatigued. With us, just imposing our will consistently, giving multiple efforts, that next play mentality. We’ve been doing a phenomenal job against some really good ballclubs in those areas, giving multiple efforts and doing the little things and having the next play mentality, good bad or indifferent no matter what happens on the basketball floor.”
Ham felt like both teams were fighting the right way given what was on the line in the standings, and he understands that when both teams are playing with energy like that, things are not always going to go one team’s way:
“Absolutely. They knew what was on the line in terms of securing a position in the postseason, we’re in the same boat. And they’re playing like a hungry ballclub. We’ve been playing like an extremely hungry ballclub, but you’re gonna have nights where things don’t go your way and shots don’t go in. You have to find other ways to impact the game.”
The Lakers no longer have to deal with the Kings this season, but they may have to face them in the postseason, or face a team with a similar structure like the Denver Nuggets. At a certain point, they need to figure out how to compete with teams built like that for longer than two or three quarters.
Darvin Ham says he and D’Angelo Russell are in a great place
After an article was released discussing a possible rift between Ham and Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell, the head coach felt he needed to clear the air on his relationship with Russell. He noted that the two have great conversations over text and in person and has been impressed by their ability to be accountable with one another.
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