The Lakers heartbreakingly lost Game 2, giving up a 20-point advantage in the second half. The cherry on top of the awful sundae that was Monday’s matchup was the game-winning jumper from Jamal Murray in the closing seconds over Anthony Davis.
While the focus is on the final possession, head coach Darvin Ham stressed doing a better job overall during the fourth as the key to turning the tides in the Lakers’ favor.
“There was a point where we had full control of the game,” Ham said postgame. “We can’t forget that. We just have to finish. We did a good job of initiating. We did a good job of sustaining but didn’t finish well. So, the biggest thing for us is to finish. Again, the intangible things; taking care of the ball, being great in defensive transition and keeping them off the offensive glass…For me, the focus is, as much as this hurts and stings, my mind’s always flipping to the next thing.
“What’s in front of us now? And what’s in front of us is Game 3. If we come out and compete and give the type of defensive effort we did in the first half, the majority of that third quarter, we’ll be ok. We just have to fine-tune some things as we go down the stretch in the fourth quarter.”
The Lakers have been outscored 57-40 in the second half and lost the final frame by 12 points. It wasn’t just the defensive lapses and unforced errors Ham discussed that caused the Lakers’ demise but also a stalling of their offense.
In the fourth quarter, Los Angeles went 3:20 minutes without a single point. That can’t happen when trying to close out the defending champs on the road.
The silver lining is that the Lakers have played well against the Nuggets for the vast majority of both games. If they can clean up these mistakes late in games, they could very well right the ship, come out on top on Thursday and protect their homecourt. If not, then it might be time to book a flight to Cancun for Sunday instead of a one to Denver.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.