Lakers’ Darvin Ham to Keep Starting Lineup vs. Nuggets for NBA Playoffs G4 Down 3-0

Darvin Ham is not deviating from what the Los Angeles Lakers have done this season despite a 3-0 series deficit.

The Lakers dropped Game 3 112-105 to the Denver Nuggets, putting the season on the brink of ending. Despite this, Ham said that he was “not changing his starting lineup” and that he needs to show faith in the group that brought the team to this point.

“You have to trust your players,” Ham said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “And just believe in them. And when they see that belief, then they tend to perform at a high level.”

Los Angeles earned a 47-35 regular season record and has relied on players like D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura throughout the season. While both have displayed some struggles in the series, Ham appears to value sticking with the players who got him to the postseason.

Los Angeles dropped all three regular season matchups against the Nuggets, were swept by the team in the Western Conference Finals in 2022-23 and have an overall 11 game losing streak against Denver. That is the fifth-longest active losing streak to a team, per McMenamin.

That doesn’t mean the Nuggets are completely outplaying Los Angeles, as the Lakers lost 101-99 in Game 2 and led by as many as 12 points in Game 3. Still, the team has struggled to get it done against the defending champions and will need to completely flip the script in order to avoid elimination.

The Lakers will look to end the losing streak and take a step towards shrinking the series deficit Saturday in Game 4. The tip-off will happen at 8:30 PM ET.