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If the Lakers are going to go down in Game 4 on Saturday against the Nuggets, they’re going to do it with the group that got them to the dance.
Even as D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura have struggled more than they’ve had success in the series, Darvin Ham confirmed at practice on Friday that there would be no starting lineup changes for what could potentially be the final game of the year for the Lakers.
Neither player had a good game in Game 3 on Thursday. Russell finished 0-7 from the field and Rui was 2-4. Neither player was on the floor in crunch time, and with the Lakers bench struggling well before the playoffs even started, it left the purple and gold incredibly short-handed.
The problem is, there aren’t obvious changes to make to the lineup if they were to bench either Rui or D’Lo. Neither Gabe Vincent nor Spencer Dinwiddie has been good enough to warrant benching D’Lo for them. And when it comes to the front court, there is not another forward on the roster that could take Rui’s minutes.
There is also an argument to be made that the starting lineup has, at times, been more than adequate. In each of the first three games, they’ve built double-digit leads. And the process has been good as they’re creating open looks, they just aren’t making them consistently.
If anything, this just further drives home the point that this Lakers roster does not have the answers for the questions the Nuggets ask. Perhaps some of those answers exist with a healthier version of this team, but the Lakers don’t have that luxury.
So, they’ll send out the same lineup once more and hope for the best, even if what they’re doing also qualifies for the definition of insanity.