Darvin Ham trying to be cute cost Lakers Game 1 vs Nuggets

The Los Angeles Lakers surprised many basketball fans and pundits by making it to the Western Conference Finals. One of the driving factors for the Lakers’ playoff run has been head coach Darvin Ham, who has really seemed to have a pulse on this team.

However, just like Icarus, Ham flew too close to the sun. After watching the small-ball lineup work against a completely-different Golden State Warriors team, Ham decided to do the same thing and start Dennis Schroder in place of Jarred Vanderbilt in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals vs the Denver Nuggets.

Ham didn’t just start with a small-ball approach. He rode the small-ball approach even when it was very apparent that it wasn’t working. As a result, the Nuggets scored 72 points in the first half and defeated the Lakers 132-126.

Darvin Ham trying to be cute cost the Lakers a win in Game 1 vs the Nuggets

This was not the only reason why the Lakers lost Game 1 against the Nuggets on Tuesday night. Denver was uncannily efficient from the field in this game. While there was a lot of bad defense by the Lakers, there were also some tough shots that the Nuggets made in this game.

But at the end of the day, the story of this game is the massive hole that the Lakers were put in during the first half because of the small-ball lineup that Ham decided to throw out there. The worst part is that it doesn’t even make sense on paper.

This isn’t the Warriors. Getting smaller, more athletic players on the court against Golden State makes a ton of sense. Denver is a team with size and wings and they took full advantage of LA’s questionable decision-making in the first half.

Starting Schroder doesn’t even make sense for what the Lakers are trying to accomplish here. In theory, Schroder adds more of an offensive threat than Vanderbilt and against the Warriors, the Lakers could get away with his defense. But in this particular matchup, Schroder isn’t even adding anything offensively and is only hurting on the defensive end.

It is frustrating to see this kind of logic when the Lakers have options with size in Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura. Heck, those two players finished with a plus/minus of +5 and +10, respectively. Schroder and D’Angelo Russell finished with a plus/minus of -6 and -25, respectively.

Plus/minus is a flawed stat but it does tell the story of this game. Heck, just look at how much success Anthony Davis had in this game with 40 points on 14-23 shooting. Size is the key to this series both offensively and defensively.

While it was a poor coaching decision by Ham, the first-year head coach has shown the ability to adjust in a series and go with the options that give the team the best chance of winning. Hopefully, he learns from his mistakes in Game 1.