If the Lakers are going to go down in Game 4 on Saturday against the Nuggets, they’re going to do it with the group that got them to the dance♛.
Even as D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura have struggled ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚmore than they’ve had success🤪 in the series, Darvin Ham con🍨firmed at practice on Friday that there would be no starting lineup changes for what could potꦍentially be the final game of the year for the Lakers.
Darvin Ham says he will stick with the same starting lineup for Game 4.— Dave McMenamin (@mcten)
Darvin Ham said he’s not considering benching D’Angelo Russell.— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha)
Neither f♚lamengo x fluminense:p🍸layer had a good game in Game 3 on Thursday🥀. Russell finished 0-7 from the field and Rui was 2-4. Neither player was on the floor in crunch time, and with the Lakers bench struggling well befo🅷re the playoffs even started, it left the purple and gold incredibly short-handed.
The problem is, there aren’t obvious changes to make to the lineup if they were to bench either Rui or D’Lo. Neither Gabe Vincent nor Spencer Dinwiddie has been good enough to warrant benching D’Lo for them. And when it comes to the front court, there is not another forward on the roster that could take Rui’s minutes. There is also an argument to be made that the starting lineup has, at times, been more than adequate. In each of the first three games, they’ve built double-digit leads. And the process has been good as they’re creating open looks, they just aren’t making them consistently.From Feb. 1 on, the Lakers were fifth in the league in wide open 3-point percentage and fourth in the league in open 3-point percentage.
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude)
Their 3🐼-point shooting completely abandoning them in the playoffs is as much a reason they🧸're losing as anything.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at .
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