Darvin Ham Drops Statement On Rui Hachimura After Lakers Lose To Rockets

The Los Angeles Lakers have won some of their battles without LeBron James. Anthony Davis sat out the game against the Houston Rockets, too. It was an ugly loss for the Lakers. Ham didn’t have AD on the floor against the Rockets, so he decided to go with Wenyen Gabriel instead of Rui Hachimura. Gabriel played delivered six points, 14 rebounds, an assist and two steals in 33 minutes. Hachimura did five points on 2-of-5 shooting and 1-of-3 shooting from distance in 17 minutes of action.

“Wenyen did a fantastic job rebounding,” Ham said. “His activity, his length, changing up some shots. Just, again, his activity defensively in the paint. His ability to secure defensive rebounds.

“We wanted to go with that and get Rui a chance to come off the second half and try to make an impact with the second uni. But again, you could throw all of that out – rotations [and] coverages. Sometimes it just comes down to individual performance. And guys being locked in, once again, and understanding the circumstances of being ready to play. The beautiful thing about where we are is that with the games still left to play, we won’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We got to go back and fill our cups up tomorrow and get ready to take advantage of a five-game homestand.”

Ham gave Hachimura less playing time in the loss tot he Rockets

Ham had a reason to play Gabriel and offered a detailed explanation. Lakers players have plenty of time to deliver and yes, they do face a major challenge. Playing without Davis wasn’t easy, but players have to find a way to win without both superstars.

D’ Angelo Russell says there are major holes in the Lakers system, adding that everyone is just “trying to figure it out.” An incomplete roster has to overcome each and every inconvenience on the way to the playoffs. Let’s see how things go for Ham and his team. They are in the middle of a really challenging stretch.