The Los Angeles Lakers are down 0-2 in the Western Conference Finals after dropping two winnable games on the road against the Denver Nuggets. Game 1 was lost because of odd decision-making by Darvin Ham while Game 2 was lost because of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The one silver lining for the Lake Show is that the team is back at home for Games 3 and 4. Los Angeles absolutely has to win both games at home or else this series is as good as over. For the first time in the playoffs, the Lakers’ backs are against the wall.
And if the team is going to come off the wall and come back against Denver then some changes are going to have to be made.
Lakers tweak No. 1: Bench D’Angelo Russell
Darvin Ham had the idea to go small in Game 1 of this series with Dennis Schroder and D’Angelo Russell in the starting lineup. It didn’t work. Ham did a good job of changing the plan in Game 2 by inserting Jarred Vanderbilt into the starting five. But it was not enough of a change.
Schroder is simply the better starting option for the Lake Show in this specific series and he should be getting most of the minutes at the point guard position. Russell should not only see some of his minutes go to Schroder but to options with size as well.
Russell played 33 minutes in Game 2 and had a -16 plus/minus. That gives Russell a -40 plus/minus in two games. Plus/minus is a flawed stat but that tells a horrible story.
The Lakers are better off giving Russell 20-24 minutes as a heat-check scoring option off the bench. However, the big problem is that the team is reportedly worried that it will “lose” Russell if they make this change. Wonderful.
Lakers tweak No. 2: Run more dedicated offense for Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura
A big reason why the Los Angeles Lakers are even in the Western Conference to begin with is because of the solid role players on the roster. Both Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura had huge series in the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies and were able to steal games from the Grizzlies.
Lonnie Walker IV was the story of the second round. Without Walker, the Lakers may not have won that series. Despite the role players being the most impactful thus far, we are yet to see the same kind of reliance on the depth of this roster.
We saw it a bit in Game 2 with Hachimura having a great first half. Reaves also had a solid scoring game all things considered. But when it mattered the most in the fourth quarter it became a LeBron and AD choke show instead of relying on the role players. The only big shots hit in the fourth quarter were by Reaves.
The Lakers need to rely on their role players more, especially behind the arc.
The Lakers are not a prominent three-point shooting team but you still cannot shoot 8-30 from three and expect to win. Moreover, you cannot allow LeBron James to shoot 0-6 from three and win games.
It makes no sense to let LeBron jack up three threes in the fourth quarter only to miss them all and then turn Anthony Davis into a corner-three specialist. LeBron and AD are the best players but the Lakers will only go as far as the role players will take them. If D’Angelo Russell is going to play less, Hachimura and Reaves need to have more dedicated offensive sets.
3. Lakers need to slow the game down, play in the half-court
Game 1 of this series was a shootout and the Lakers were able to play well enough to make it close. It was a barn-burner that was not the typical style of play that Lakers fans have become use to seeing.
Game 2 then started to look more like Lakers basketball. The Lake Show was able to slow the game down and get it in the half-court, where they legitimately are the best team remaining in the NBA Playoffs. As a result, LA led by as much as 11.
But then once the game started to slip from the Lakers they started to play right into the Nuggets’ style of play. The pace of the game suddenly picked up, with the Lakers rushing possessions and getting caught in transition on both ends of the floor.
If the Lakers keep playing like this then they might not make it back to Denver.
The Lakers’ only chance of coming back in this series is forcing the Nuggets to play their style of basketball. Thankfully, that is easier to do when you are a half-court team like LA rather than being a team that is trying to get out there and run.
Los Angeles just has to resist the temptation of picking up the pace and the first two tweaks listed will help do that. With more dedicated offense for the role players, the game will slow down (especially if LeBron stops doing his walk-up pull-up three with 16 seconds left on the shot clock).
Russell also has a tendency to needlessly speed the game up, turning the dial up to 10 while the rest of his team is still on six.
The Lakers have to make this a slog like it was in the first half of Game 2. As soon as that stops they are playing into Denver’s hands and by then, the series is as good as over.