Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The immediate business ahead of the Lakers is deciding, or perhaps just finding the right time to announce, the future of Darvin Ham. But while everyone waits on that—and the Lakers did in fact conduct exit interviews internally (and away from probing questions from media types)—one could certainly assume that major stakeholders were asked not just about Darvin, but more importantly what worked and what didn't this year, and what kind of coach they'd like to see next season...

The Lakers have a lot of decisions to make this offseason, but without question the highest profile choice is about Darvin Ham. Does LA fire him, as is the broad expectation based on multiple reports? If so, why? For starters, you can look to a few recent quotes, some from after Monday's loss and more in a story published by ESPN following the game...

When those who defend the Lakers talk about how the distance between them and the best teams in the league isn't necessarily that big, Monday's Game 5 loss to the Nuggets, eliminating the Lakers from the postseason, is what they're talking about. Jamal Murray, once again, was the catalyst. He scores Denver's final five points, and they beat LA 108-106. This was a fantastic game, with huge punches thrown by both teams, and massive emotional swings. Both teams were banged up...

Playoff series often hinge on the fairly random prospect of who is available and who is not when the games need to be played. You can be the second best team in the East, but if Giannis and Dame are injured, you might just lose in the first round to Indiana...

The Lakers had lost 11 in a row to the Denver Nuggets, including seven straight in the playoffs. 12 would send them home for the summer. 

And, finally, mercifully, the Lakers got a win. Like it was in the first three games, the Lakers built up a lead. For the third time in the series, they built that lead to double digits. But for the first time in the series, this time the Lakers actually held on. Final score, 119-108. The Lakers send the series back to Denver for Game 5...

Let's face it, the Lakers put themselves in a position where winning their series against the Denver Nuggets would be very, very, VERY challenging after they blew a 20-point lead in Denver to fall down 0-2. But to even have a shred of hope, Game 3 had to be a win. It wasn't. The Lakers dropped yet another game to the Nuggets, this time by a 112-105 final score. Once again the Lakers got off to a solid start, going up by as much as 12, and once again Denver came back...

The biggest headline to emerge from the total collapse of Game 2, where the Lakers allowed a 20-point second half lead to disappear, was after, when Anthony Davis said the Lakers have stretches on both sides of the ball where they don't know what they're doing. This was a very pointed criticism, to say the least. Wednesday, Darvin Ham was asked about AD's comments and ... made it worse. ""I just think sometimes the plays don't turn out the way you think they should...

Monday was a brutal night all around for the Lakers. They blew a 20-point lead in Denver against the Nuggets in Game 2, and while it doesn't end their chances of winning the series it certainly does some very serious damage to their hopes. Psychologically, too, blowing a 20-point second half lead is not an easy thing to recover from...

For most of Monday's Game 2 in Denver, the Lakers were in position to send the series back to Los Angeles tied at 1 game each. At points, it looked like they were guaranteed to do it, pushing their lead up to 20 in the second half. But little by little, Denver chipped away...

Saturday's Game 1 in Denver was undoubtedly disappointing, and once again put in stark relief the challenge facing the Lakers against the team most experts expect to represent the West in the NBA Finals this year. It also makes tonight's Game 2 a must-win, because the odds of this Lakers team showing enough high-end consistency to beat the Nuggets four times in five tries feels... unrealistic...