Darvin Ham says Lakers ‘feel comfortable’ heading into playoff series vs. Nuggets
Despite losing eight in a row to the Nuggets, Darvin Ham and the Lakers are ready to take on the challenge.
The Lakers beat the Pelicans 110-106 in Tuesday’s play-in game to secure the No. 7 seed and will now face the Denver Nuggets in the first round.
This matchup is one of the most interesting to begin the NBA playoffs. In the past eight contests, the Lakers have failed to beat the Nuggets, getting swept in the regular season in last year's Western Conference.
The success of Denver and the failures of Los Angeles have created the type of tension and storytelling you find in a wrestling arc. You have Denver fans claiming to be the Lakers' daddy, a boisterous coach taking shots at the Lakers any chance he's near a mic and a star in Nikola Jokić who seems uninterested in it all.
In all the hoopla, the Lakers have taken notice and responded with a vintage cryptic Instagram post by LeBron James and Anthony Davis calling the end of last year "very motivational."
That's all well and good, but they still failed to beat the Nuggets in the regular season, losing all three games. Head coach Darvin Ham discussed what a series against the one they can't beat means to the team.
"It's an opportunity," Ham said after the win against the Pelicans. "It's back to zero. Obviously, they've had a ton of success against our ball club, but there's always a new day. My staff and I have already been putting the groundwork together for that gameplan and we'll get together tomorrow… we'll start the work, the process of building out the gameplan and go up there and give it our best shot. That's all we can do.
“We feel comfortable, though. We like where we are. We like where the spirit of our group is. Everybody's chipping in, pitching in, excited about this challenge, this opportunity. Respect to Denver. They're a hell of a ball club. There's a reason they're the defending champs but we like our chances."
There's no denying the Lakers are playing good basketball. They jumped from the tenth seed to the seventh seed thanks to a strong end in the final week of the regular season and a play-in win. The starters outside of LeBron and Anthony Davis are producing and Gabe Vincent is back and playing well.
They may still be underdogs in the series and rightfully so, but they have as good a chance as any at beating the champs when series play begins on Saturday.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.