DENVER — Getting time and space away from a game can often help provide a clearer picture of what went right and wrong.
The emotions from the thick of the game are further in the rearview mirror. Details that weren’t picked up during the game may be noticed.
But to coach Darvin Ham many of the things that stood out immediately after Saturday’s 114-103 Game 1 loss at Ball Arena as part of their first-round playoffs series with the defending champion Denver Nuggets also stood out after watching the film as Saturday turned to Sunday.
“We really didn’t do a bad job in the halfcourt,” Ham said during a Sunday afternoon conference call with reporters. “They made some tough shots but we didn’t do a bad job defensively. But our biggest problem was transition defense, getting back, getting matched up so we weren’t crossmatched. We didn’t do that as well as we should.”
To Ham’s point, the Lakers allowed the Nuggets to score 21 fastbreak points and 18 second-chance points off Denver’s 15 offensive rebounds.
The Utah Jazz allowed a league-worst average of 18.4 opponent fastbreak points per game during the regular season, while the Washington Wizards allowed a league-worst 16.4 opponent fastbreak points per game.
Anthony Davis said ahead of Saturday’s matchup that the Lakers couldn’t be bad at both defensive rebounding and transition defense – both areas of improvement for the Lakers against the Nuggets after getting swept 4-0 in last year’s Western Conference finals and the 3-0 regular-season sweep this past season.
But that’s exactly what happened.
“Obviously giving up second-chance points and some untimely turnovers on our part,” Ham said. “It’s the intangible game and that’s the game you really have to fight with good teams like Denver, championship teams like Denver. The little things matter. The details and the discipline.
“It’s more so that than anything else, than the big stuff or the post coverage or pick-and-roll coverage. It’s the intangible things. That’s what’s what really came to light as we went back to the hotel after the game and rewatched the film.”
Ham also acknowledged the Lakers can improve how they defend two-time MVP and reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokić.
Jokić finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds (three offensive rebounds) and seven assists in 39 minutes, and didn’t commit a turnover.
“You’re not going to shut him down,” Ham said. “You just got to make it tough for him. There [are] some things and opportunities where I saw we could have been more proactive in denying him catches, and maybe crowding him a little more, getting back to him sooner in pick and roll with our coverage.”
Ham added that Rui Hachimura, the primary Jokić defender for most of Saturday, could’ve done better getting back to Jokić in certain Denver offensive actions.
“But he’s a tough guard because he’s not a one-way thinking superstar,” Ham said. “He’s thinking all levels of the game. If he’s not passing a ball that hurts you, he’s scoring. If he’s not scoring, he’s on the glass. So it’s multi-faceted.
“But you just have to continue to try to make things difficult for him. And it starts with trying to limit his touches, which is damn near impossible, but that’s what it takes if you’re trying to win.”
The Lakers offense also bogged after a strong start.
After scoring 49 points (19-for-31 shooting with 13 assists) in the first 18 minutes, the Lakers had 54 points (20-for-48 shooting on nine assists) in the final 30 minutes.
“We got great looks that we just didn’t knock down,” Ham said. “Shots that we’ve been knocking down. And then our pace is off. We just watched with the team of us walking up and down, walking back toward the offensive end and not getting in and out of our actions [quickly]. We’re a completely different ball club when we’re sprinting up the floor.
“That has to be a part of our defense as well: how to defend this team is to put more pressure on them on offense. Try to put them on their heels too. Our offense was stagnant. That also contributed to them having the type of night they had.”
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Ham also addressed a report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania that big man Christian Wood is planning to return to the floor in Game 3 on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Wood had left knee surgery last month and hasn’t played since the All-Star break, being sidelined for what the team officially deemed “left knee effusion” (swelling) for a month before the procedure. Wood averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game (50 games) during the regular season after signing a two-year, $5.75 million contract with the Lakers as a free agent in September. The second season of the contract (2024-25) is a $3.06 million player option.
“He’s still going through his recovery process from injuries, rehab process,” Ham said. “Obviously, he has size, he has length, he has rebounding capabilities, he can stretch the floor. But first and foremost, he has a couple more boxes to check before we even consider [him returning].”
LAKERS AT NUGGETS
What: Western Conference playoffs, first round, Game 2
When: Monday, 7 p.m. PT
Where: Ball Arena, Denver
TV/Radio: TNT/Spectrum SportsNet, 710 AM
