Injuries have been a problem for the Los Angeles Lakers all season long, but especially in recent weeks as they try to make their playoff push.
Every game matters for the Lakers at this point, but they have been forced to get wins without their biggest star in LeBron James as he continues to recover from a foot injury.
Without James in the lineup, Darvin Ham has been forced to get creative with his lineups and rotations in order to find success. The team has a lot more depth now than it did before the trade deadline, but that doesn’t make things any easier for Ham.
Over the last few games, Ham has switched up his rotations by staggering Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell with the former playing most of the first and third quarters while the latter comes out early and then re-enters with the second unit. Ham recently explained that without James in the lineup, he wants one of Davis or Russell in there at all times, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“They’re highly effective together and separate, so especially with LeBron out, just trying to have one of those two on the floor, if not both, at all times.”
This is a smart decision by Ham and Davis and Russell are far and away the Lakers’ biggest scoring threats. With at least one on the floor at all times, the Lakers should be able to maintain getting quality looks, avoiding long scoring droughts.
The Lakers’ bench as a whole is much better now than it was before the trade deadline. Dennis Schroder is leading the second unit as a point guard, while Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Wenyen Gabriel have all played key roles in recent weeks as well.
Once James is able to return to action then Ham will have to switch up his rotations once again, although that is a problem that he and the organization will surely welcome if the 19-time All-Star is healthy.
Reaves believes Lakers need to take more 3-pointers
One of the biggest changes to the Lakers’ roster since the trade deadline in addition to the added depth is that they have more outside shooting on the roster.
L.A. is still not taking 3-pointers at a high volume though, which Reaves believes is something that needs to change moving forward. Reaves himself is having a stellar season from beyond the arc, knocking down 38.3% of his triples on 3.3 attempts per game.
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