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Lakers’ Darvin Ham must make these changes to make the NBA Playoffs

By Jason Reed

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Head coach Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Golden State Warriors during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on February 11, 2023 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Head coach Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Golden State Warriors during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on February 11, 2023 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers got some much-needed rest during the all-star break and now enter a final stretch of the season where every single game is a must-win. Los Angeles heads into the second half as the 13th seed in the Western Conference.

There is definitely room for the Lakers in the playoffs, though. The team is two games back of making the play-in, three games back of being the seventh seed and 3.5 games back of being the sixth seed. It certainly is possible.

Los Angeles will likely get help from several teams ahead of them falling off down the stretch but the team still needs to take care of business. And if the Lakers are going to take care of business then they need to see some changes from Darvin Ham.

Darvin Ham must make these 3 changes for the Lakers to make the playoffs:

(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

1. Lakers must stop running unnecessarily small lineups 

Maybe it is because he is a former point guard himself but Darvin Ham loves to run small lineups. He was essentially forced to do this before the trade deadline as the Lakers were guard-heavy and had very few wings and bigs to actually throw out there.

That is now different after the deadline. The team replaced Russell Westbrook with another point guard in D’Angelo Russell but they also added a sharpshooting wing in Malik Beasley and a two-way forward in Jarred Vanderbilt.

There is a time and a place to go small and Ham should not completely take it out of his repertoire. That being said, it shouldn’t become a habit where he continues to throw Dennis Schroder and Russell out there together. Heck, there have been times when the team has Schroder, Russell and Austin Reaves all on the court.

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