In their Game 2 defeat to the Nuggets, Mark Jackson has dissected the Lakers’ rotational errors.
In his analysis of the Lakers’ Game 2 loss to the Denver Nuggets, former NBA head coach and pundit Mark Jackson pointed out Darvin Ham’s rotational mistakes, which caused the Lakers to blow a 20-point lead. In the fourth quarter, Jackson took issue with the choice to match Nikola Jokic’s and Anthony Davis’ minutes.
Because Russell is a better player than the other Lakers guards, Jackson wants greater faith placed in him, even when he makes poor plays.
Jackson is making remarks about Darvin Ham’s decision-making process without directly criticizing it. As the Lakers face the prospect of perhaps losing to the Nuggets in a back-to-back sweep, many fingers are pointing at Ham.
Though opinions on Darvin Ham’s usage of D’Angelo Russell have been divided all season, Jackson is correct. Russell is most effective when deployed with LeBron or Davis, therefore the team should make it a priority to have him play on the court with at least one of them. In the second game, he broke a run of lackluster games against Denver with 23 points.
Darvin Ham, the head coach, has been candid in discussing the team’s inability to prevent Nikola Jokic from having such a significant influence on the game. The Lakers could make tactical and structural adjustments to boost performance, but it’s difficult to predict that Michael Malone, the coach of the Nuggets, won’t make a strong response.
Considering how well players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis performed, Ham may bear the brunt of this series loss. The Nuggets will defeat the Lakers in a one-sided series unless something changes in Game 3.
