The Los Angeles Lakers’ season is already bordering on miraculous. They have overcome a 2-10 start and legions of doomsayers to reach the Western Conference finals. They have gotten there after dispatching the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the previous round.
They will be in for a challenge, as they will face the top-seeded Denver Nuggets, a team that features two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and a deep, talented cast, especially on the offensive end.
Job 1 for the Lakers will be containing Jokic, and if they cannot stop him from scoring points in bunches, they at least need to limit his assists to stymie the rest of Denver’s attack.
So far in the playoffs, and for much of the regular season, head coach Darvin Ham has elected to go small when Anthony Davis is resting. It has resulted not only in lineups that had the 6-foot-9, 205-pound Wenyen Gabriel at the 5, but also in several lineups with LeBron James or even Rui Hachimura playing that spot.
Maybe L.A. can get away with that type of lineup in small spurts versus the Nuggets, but it will likely need size more often than not to neutralize Jokic when Davis isn’t on the court.
Could this be the time for Ham to make a change in his bench rotation?