Lakers can help themselves against Nuggets by making the easy shots
EL SEGUNDO — The Lakers’ Wednesday morning film session “stung” according to star forward LeBron James.
Not only because the Lakers had to relive and rewatch themselves blow a 20-point third-quarter lead before Jamal Murray hit a game-winning shot at the final buzzer to seal the Nuggets’ 101-99 victory in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series on Monday night in Denver.
for Thursday’s Game 3 of their first-round playoffs series against the Denver Nuggets, in which they trail 0-2,
But because the film session showed the Lakers not taking advantage of several easy scoring opportunities, contributing to them only scoring 40 second-half points in the loss, which left them down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series going into Thursday night’s Game 3 at Crypto.com Arena.
“We missed a lot of shots at the rim that we’ve been making throughout the course of this season,” James said. “We’ll live with a lot of the shots that we took.”
To James’ point: after leading the league in shooting accuracy within five feet of the basket during the regular season at 68.9%, the Lakers made just 41.7% (10 for 24) of their shots within that area on Monday.
James, who shot 69.8% near the rim during the regular season, shot 4 for 11 (36.4%) within five feet of the basket in Game 2. Rui Hachimura, who shot 71.7% near the rim during the regular season, made just one of his four attempts (25%) within five feet on Monday.
“There were some in the first quarter, second, third and fourth,” James said. “So just some ones that we’re very capable of making. I wouldn’t blame the fatigue on a few of my misses at the goal.”
Missed layups/dunks not only prevent the offense from capitalizing off of easier scoring opportunities, but they typically also kickstart the opposing team’s transition attack since the player who missed the shot will be under or near the rim.
“They’re a solid defensive team, no doubt,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of the defending NBA champions, who have beaten the Lakers 10 consecutive times, “but when you’re missing point-blank layups, that’s kinda tough to overcome.”
D’Angelo Russell mentioned fatigue being a factor for the Lakers being less efficient near the rim.
The Lakers shot a combined 53.8% within five feet of the basket in the series’ first two games.
“This time of the year you really focus on defense,” Russell said. “Defense all around the league is the priority of focus, physicality. And when you look up, that kind of wears on your body and fatigue sets in. So if fatigue sets in, shots are short, mechanics get a little off, you start to see more misses at this time of the year.
“And you credit it to playoff lights and bright lights and all that (expletive). But it comes down to fatigue, your focus and you shoot the same shots you shoot all year. I like our shots. I like the shots we’re getting, the shots that we keep creating. Just gotta make them.”
Film sessions can help filter out the “postgame emotions,” as Ham put it.
So when asked about All-Star big man Anthony Davis’ comments after Monday’s loss, when Davis said, “we have stretches where we just don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the floor. And those are the ones that cost us,” Ham chalked it up to post-game frustrations.
The Lakers have been outscored by a combined 114-83 in the second halves after winning the first halves 119-101. Davis didn’t speak with reporters after Wednesday’s practice.
“Sometimes when plays don’t turn out the way you think they should, then the frustration sets in a little bit,” Ham said. “But I don’t think it’s [from] us not being organized. I have incredibly talented coaches all along my staff.
“We pride ourselves, whether it’s a practice, a shootaround, a film session, a game or whatever, we pride ourselves on being highly efficient and organized. I just chalk that up to being frustrated. It’s an emotional game, the way it ended and all of that. But I’ll agree to disagree on that one.”
After building a 12-point lead in Game 1 and a 20-point advantage in Game 2, Ham said there is plenty to build on despite the losses.
“You have to understand why you failed at something,” Ham said. “It’s not just, ‘We failed, let’s scrap the whole plan and go this way.’ No. You have to understand why things went the way they went.”
They also have to figure out how to hold those leads against a team that has consistently outplayed them down the stretch since last spring’s Western Conference finals sweep.
“It’s all about sustainability,” James said. “It doesn’t matter what you can do throughout the first 47½ minutes. You got to close the game, which we didn’t do. We got to do a better job of that. But some of the things that we’ve done over the first couple games, we’re very excited and happy about those.
“But we got to do a better job of closing it.”
LAKERS AT NUGGETS
What: Western Conference playoffs, first round, Game 3
When: Monday, 7 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/Radio: TNT, Spectrum SportsNet, 710 AM