Intel on LA’s first five.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham apparently was so impressed by his team’s efforts in LA’s 120-102 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans that he will be trotting out that first five going forward. Ham promoted shooting guard Malik Beasley and power forward Jarred Vanderbilt to starting roles, while demoting Dennis Schröder, Rui Hachimura and Troy Brown Jr. (LeBron James also returned from a three-game injury absence that night).
Beasley and Vanderbilt join incumbent starters D’Angelo Russell, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN reports that Ham intends to keep the starting lineup he first employed very successfully against New Orleans for the long-term.
McMenamin adds that Los Angeles, currently the No. 13 seed in the Western Conference, wants to make the postseason outright and skip the play-in tournament.
“The goal is for us to come out and try to be the best version of ourselves each game, but definitely, if we can go and secure a spot, that is our goal right there,” Ham said. “If we fall into a play-in situation, so be it. But our No. 1 goal is to go secure a spot, not just throw games off here or there [and] just wish for a play-in. We want to go secure a spot.”
As McMenamin notes, the 27-32 Lakers are trailing the West’s 10th seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder, by two games at present. But the club is also just 3.5 games behind the West’s sixth seed, the Dallas Mavericks.
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