Darvin Ham points to offensive rebounding as biggest area Lakers must improve vs. Nuggets

The inability to keep the Nuggets off the offensive glass was the biggest area Darvin Ham wants to see improvement from for the Lakers in Game 2.

Game 1 between the Lakers vs. Nuggets went about the same as the last eight matchups between these two teams. The Lakers kept it close, D’Angelo Russell struggled and the Nuggets prevailed in the second half.

There are plenty of aspects the Lakers can improve on moving forward, but according to head coach Darvin Ham, perhaps the biggest area they need to improve is offensive rebounding.

“One of the most glaring things is those guys getting, what was it, 15 offensive rebounds for 18 points,” Ham said following the Game 1 loss, “So, you can’t allow them to get multiple possessions. You got to try as hard as you can as a group to gang rebound, hold them to one possession. They’ve got guys that, if they see the ball go in once, it’s going to go in twice…Us, we have to be more disciplined, more perfect.”

Pat Riley said it best during the Lakers’ Showtime era: no boards, no rings. The Lakers lost the overall rebounding battle 49-40 in Game 1 and were outrebounded by the Nuggets 139-114 in their three regular-season losses to the Nuggets.

If the Lakers fail to grab rebounds, the Nuggets will make them pay by converting on those opportunities. Every shot that goes up will require an all-hands-on-deck approach from the purple and gold. That means getting positioning, boxing out and running from the wing to the basket for rebounds.

Ham must also help the Lakers by putting out lineups that can handle Denver’s size. Perhaps that means fewer three-guard lineups, going with two bigs when LeBron James is sitting and reiterating these talking points with the team.

One person we know who fully understands this issue is Taurean Prince, who had a viral moment in college describing a rebound in response to how Yale could outrebound Baylor.

In all seriousness, the Lakers will have to win the rebounding battle to win Game 2.

As Ham iterated, you have to be “more perfect” and allowing Denver second-chance opportunities is a death blow. Plenty of adjustments are needed to finally turn these losses into wins, but this one stops possession, gives the Lakers more shots at the basket and creates fast breaks.

Boards will be worth their weight in gold in this series, so grabbing them will be critical. The coach knows it; the players know it. Now we have to see if anyone besides Anthony Davis steps up to get them.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.