The Lakers have lost their last five playoff games and four regular-season games over the last two seasons to the Nuggets. Ahead of Game 2 of their 2024 matchup, Rui Hachimura spoke candidly about the matchup this year, seemingly taking shots at his own team’s preparation and inability to win a game.
“They watch us a lot. We’ve played them so many times in the last year, they know what we exactly do. We’ve got to do well as a team defense, they don’t give us many options… I think we gotta play together more, I got to be more active, sharing the ball, and all that. I think that’s going to help us this year.”
Rui Hachimura on the Lakers offensive struggles in Game 1: “We’ve played them so many times in the last year, they know what we exactly do.” pic.twitter.com/VwCGhI0aRE
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) April 22, 2024
Hachimura put up seven points on four attempts in the Game 1 loss, being one of the primary defenders on Nikola Jokic for the night. That went as well as expected, with Jokic dominating the contest and not being affected by Hachimura’s defense in the slightest.
Rui averaged 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds this season. He has earned a bigger role in the Lakers rotations, but there isn’t any skill set he could deploy that would be a difference-maker either. We can look for umpteen reasons as to why the Lakers struggle against the Nuggets, but the simplest one is that they’re just not good enough.
Darvin Ham Admitted He Doesn’t Know How To Guard Jokic
There is a sense of tactical panic in the Lakers’ locker room. The Lakers know that the Nuggets will punish subpar play by their players, but there aren’t any tactical geniuses in the locker room to help figure out what they need to do.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has been under fire for most of the season and openly told the world that he has no clue how to scheme against Jokic.
“It’s like sh*t, I don’t know what to do. You just gotta go out there and try to be as disciplined as possible, aggressive, and consistent. And have a next-play mentality, man. … Kid is a generational-type player.”
To be fair, many coaches around the NBA don’t have a clue how to stop Jokic from impacting a game. If he isn’t scoring, he’s diming or grabbing boards, so to remove him from in-game action is not easy. It’s only specific defensive schemes with switchy and lanky defenders that could bother Jokic, as he’s strong enough to post up almost every player in the NBA.
According to Jovan Buha, Ham also said that he was saving adjustments against Jokic for later in the series to ensure the Serbian seven-footer couldn’t decode it early.
Jokic put up 32 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists in Game 1, and averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds. and 9.0 assists this season. He’s widely expected to pick up his third MVP trophy win in four seasons while being a prohibitive favorite to win Finals MVP if the Nuggets make it back to the Conference Finals.
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