Lakers coach Darvin Ham didn’t like his team’s effort in Game 1 against the Nuggets.
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LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers stormed back but were unable able to pull out Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, falling 132-126.
The Lakers were bullied on the glass for most of the night and were out-rebounded by the Nuggets 47-30 in the Western Conference Finals opener. Two-time MVP Nikola Jokic put on a show for the home crowd in Denver, notching 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham didn’t feel the lopsided rebound number was due to size but instead a lack of toughness and tenaciousness from his squad.
“My first inclination is not even a size factor, it’s a mobility factor,” Ham said. “We had multiple guys just standing around, no one is seeking out a hit. One person getting a hit, one person is selling out going after the basketball. A couple of times the ball just dropped to the ground and someone swooped in from their team and grabbed it.
“Too many possessions where we had bodies in the vicinity of the rebound but just never put a body on their body. We didn’t make a deliberate attempt to grab the ball.
