After clinching a playoff spot with a victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham dismissed criticisms about the team’s approach to the game.
The Lakers secured their playoff position with a 110-106 win at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, setting up a first-round matchup against the defending NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets.
Some observers had suggested that the Lakers might benefit from losing to the Pelicans to potentially face a seemingly more favorable opponent in the first round by winning an additional play-in game against the winner of the Golden State Warriors-Sacramento Kings matchup. This strategy would have aimed for a series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Responding to these suggestions, Ham emphatically stated that anyone entertaining such a strategy should be considered for an “insane asylum.” He argued that the primary goal was to secure a playoff berth as quickly as possible, which they achieved by defeating the Pelicans. Furthermore, he pointed out that even if they had chosen the path of facing the Warriors or Kings, victory was not guaranteed.
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Ham emphasized that while the Nuggets have posed significant challenges for the Lakers, particularly in last year’s playoffs where Denver swept them, facing Denver early is inevitable if the Lakers aim to contend for the championship.
He asserted that it was better for the team to confront this challenge head-on in the first round.
