Lakers might start Rui Hachimura; worried they’d ‘lose’ D’Angelo Russell if they bench him, per reports

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Get ready: The Los Angeles Lakers are changing their starting lineup. Maybe. Reportedly. 

After the Lakers cut a 21-point deficit to three in the second half against the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday, coach Darvin Ham is “considering” the idea of starting Rui Hachimura in Game 2 on Thursday, according to Turner Sports’ Chris Haynes 

Hachimura was on the floor for the final 15 minutes and 15 seconds of the 132-126 loss, and he spent much of that time matched up with Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic. This allowed Anthony Davis, perhaps the best rim protector in the world, to roam off of his man — first Jeff Green, then Aaron Gordon — and provide help defense against Jokic.

Denver’s offense lost its flow late in the game, partially because it didn’t respond well to this adjustment and partially because it was usually going against a set defense. In the second half of the series opener, the Nuggets struggled to get stops and couldn’t keep the Lakers off the free throw line.

In Game 2 and beyond, Los Angeles will surely try to find ways to keep Davis near the rim. It should not, however, assume that it has cracked some sort of code by putting Hachimura on Jokic. This is not a novel approach against the Nuggets; just a couple of series ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves put Rudy Gobert on Gordon and Karl-Anthony Towns on Jokic.

“We’ve seen that quite a bit this year, and so we know we can be a lot better in countering that,” Denver coach Michael Malone told reporters on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Lakers started Dennis Schroder next to D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Davis, moving Jarred Vanderbilt to the second unit. Russell, however, only played 26 minutes, during which time the team was outscored by 25 points. After subbing out with 3:15 left in the third quarter, he watched the entire comeback from the bench.

“We took D-Lo out the game,” Denver’s Bruce Brown said on Wednesday. “That was our goal: To get him involved in everything.”

Brown credited Kentavious Caldwell-Pope…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lakers-might-start-rui-hachimura-worried-theyd-lose-dangelo-russell-if-they-bench-him-per-reports/

Author : James Herbert

Publish date : 2023-05-18 17:46:43

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