The Lakers lost Game 2 to the Denver Nuggets after a very poor performance from Anthony Davis. Darvin Ham deserves some of the blame as well.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to the Denver Nuggets, 108-103.
They had a lead for a huge part of it but really struggled to score late. The Lakers ended up with only 24 points in the fourth quarter. Jamal Murray almost outscored them.
Who is to blame for the loss?
3 Lakers to blame for blowing Game 2 vs. the Nuggets
Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis played really poorly in this game. These playoffs have been very rocky for the All-NBA player with up-and-down play every other game. He ended up only making four field goals in this one on his way to 26 percent shooting from the night.
The Lakers needed offense and Davis failed to show up. He missed a key three late in the corner which helped allowed the Nuggets take the victory. If Davis had been able to show up, the Lakers could have won this one.
Davis needs to start attacking downhill and stop settling for jump-shots. A great way to allow him to have a great Game 3 would be to put him into a lot of pick-and-roll screens. Davis rolling to the basket would be a great action off these pick-and rolls.
This would be a great way to get the guards into the game as head coach Darvin Ham seems to really want to play three guards for the rest of this series.
At the end of the day, Davis needs to get a lot more active in the paint.
LeBron James' shot choices
LeBron James missed some very bad layups but there was a bigger problem at play: James attempted six threes in this game and made zero of them.
If the Lakers want to win this series, someone in the Lakers' locker room has to tell LeBron to not take three point shots like the ones he took in Game 2. It may be hard to tell something like that to the second greatest player of all time, but the Nuggets will win this series in six games if he doesn't.
Some possessions he ended up just doing his pattern move where he would step back and take a three. James did not have the hot hand to do this and blew possessions for the Lakers in a tight game. He ended with 22 points on 47 percent shooting from the floor.
Darvin Ham's rotations
Darvin Ham's rotations were very, very bad (this isn't a typo). In this game, he got away from a three-guard lineup to start the game but Ham couldn't resist doing it in the third quarter. This is where the Nuggets started to strike.
Playing Jarred Vanderbilt only 15 minutes in was seriously criminal. Vanderbilt's lack of a offensive game makes spacing hard, but when Jamal Murray is able to go off in the fourth quarter, it might be time to put in your defensive specialist.
Dennis Schroder playing 30 minutes in this game was very dumb as he wasn't able to do very well on the offensive end (with all due respect).
D'Angelo Russell may need to come off the bench for the rest of this series. He was very bad on the offensive end. When Russell isn't good on the offensive end, his lack of defense really starts to stand out.
After this game, the Lakers may only have six solid rotation players. This makes it a little hard to manage rotations. Still, LA should be able to be avoid playing three guards in one lineup for the rest of the series. Also the Lakers should play over on pick-and-roll screens with Murray. Whether it is on-ball or off ball, Murray has been killing them from three.
LA wasted a amazing night from Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. The Lakers will need the next two games at home if they want a realistic chance to win this series. They needed to win one game on the road and they didn't accomplish that goal in Game 1 or 2. Now, they will obviously need to overcome the conditions in Denver and themselves to get to the Finals.
