The Los Angeles Lakers fought hard before a late fourth-quarter collapse which saw them lose their seventh straight game against the Denver Nuggets in the last two seasons. As usual, the game was closely contested before excellent shotmaking from the Nuggets in clutch time helped them take the win.
Darvin Ham reacted to how his players played in the contest after the game, rating their effort as an A+ to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
“Darvin Ham gives the Lakers an ‘A+’ tonight for their competitiveness and the way they played against Denver.”
Darvin Ham gives the Lakers an “A+” tonight for their competitiveness and the way they played against Denver.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) February 9, 2024
Ham elaborated more on the same in his post-game press conference.
(Starts at 1:10)
“I am extremely proud under the circumstances, coming from this long trip, facing an opponent like that, the way the guy competed and gave multiple efforts. Jaxson’s chase-down block, I got a long list of plays our guys made that were ultra-competitive. As long as we keep doing that, good things will happen for us.”
Darvin Ham speaks on the little details that cost them the game and the Nuggets’ talented duo. pic.twitter.com/jG25ijNQpP
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 9, 2024
The Lakers did compete at a high level, with this game looking like a playoff-caliber matchup. despite coming back from down 10, the Lakers just couldn’t deal with the shotmaking of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. late in the fourth quarter.
The Lakers were without their best shooter this season, D’Angelo Russell, and lost Max Christie to injury early in the game. LeBron James lamented injuries being the biggest problem for the Lakers this season, as the team is betting on getting healthy and finding a rhythm by not making any trades over the winter.
Anthony Davis Think The Lakers Have To Be Better To Contend For A Title
The Lakers entered the season as one of the title contenders in the West, with people putting a lot of stock in the team after they came off a Western Conference Finals run and made the right moves on paper in the summer. Unfortunately, that just hasn’t worked out and the Lakers languish outside the top eight in the West.
Anthony Davis wasn’t pleased after the game despite his monster 32-point stat line. He said the expectation for the Lakers is always winning a title but the team needs to figure out their play on both sides of the court before they can consider themselves a contender.
“Obviously, our organization is used to championships. I think everybody in the locker room wants to win. It’s one about staying healthy but two a lot of things that we need to clean up on both ends of the floor before we begin to start talking about championships.”
Anthony Davis: “Obviously, our organization is used to championships. I think everybody in the locker room wants to win. It’s one about staying healthy but two a lot of things that we need to clean up on both ends of the floor before we begin to start talking about… pic.twitter.com/PjgbBKMbUb
— LoJo Media (@LoJoMedia) February 9, 2024
The Lakers haven’t been contenders in the eyes of many for the last two months, as the flaws of the roster have been exploited by various teams to leave the Lakers barely above .500. They’re losing steam in the top-six race, with teams like Dallas, New Orleans, Sacramento, and Phoenix playing with more consistency. The Warriors are also creeping up on LA, so the team has to stay afloat in the play-in race.
This won’t be a title-winning year for the Lakers, but they’ll hope that the team has enough juice to at least make a run at it this season. They’re already looking ahead to the summer to make a major move for a third star.
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