The Los Angeles Lakers’ starters and regular rotation players have largely looked very good, especially offensively, so far in the preseason. However, they have been held back.
Head coach Darvin Ham has relied heavily on his rookies after halftime of each contest. That approach has resulted in two wins and three losses, as well as some sloppy and uneven play.
The Lakers will play their final preseason contest of the year on Thursday against the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert. California. It will give them one final opportunity to get ready for the games that will actually count while solidifying their starting lineup and rotations.
Ham said he will use his regular rotations for three quarters versus Phoenix (at 1:37).
Darvin Ham speaks on Anthony Davis’s growth this offseason and the plan headed into the last preseason game. pic.twitter.com/D7xFoTJ2Pz
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 16, 2023
“We got a few days in between now and then,” Ham said. “As we build up toward it, obviously it’ll be a little bit of a test run for us, to see what our normal rotation looks like, that being the last preseason game of the preseason. For three quarters we’ll see what we look like and again, in between time continue to try to get better at different things.”
The Lakers will start their regular season on the road Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets, the team that swept them in the 2023 Western Conference finals.