Lakers' Ham not changing lineup as Nuggets eye sweep in Game 4 - ESPN

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — If the Los Angeles Lakers' season ends with a sweep in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, Darvin Ham is going down with the same guys who got them there.

«I'm not changing my starting lineup,» Ham said Friday after L.A. had a film session in lieu of practice.

Down 0-3 against the Nuggets a year ago in the Western Conference finals, Ham took D'Angelo Russell out of the starting lineup for Game 4, which L.A. lost 113-111.

This time, with Russell going scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting in Game 3 (0-for-6 from 3) and seemingly disengaged from the team in the fourth quarter Thursday as he sat on the end of the bench by himself while L.A. huddled, Ham is sticking with his point guard.

«You want to give your players a chance to make good for themselves,» Ham said. «There were questions about that after Game 1 and you saw what we did in Game 2. He got back in the gym, as he's always done, and worked on his stuff. And he provided a great source of income in Game 2. Although we came up short, he was one of the reasons we were able to be in the game.»

Indeed, Russell — who declined to speak to reporters Friday again after also declining to do so in the postgame window following Game 3 — shook off a 6-for-20 shooting performance to start the series by scoring 23 points in Game 2 and tying a franchise record for playoff 3s in a game, going 7-for-11.

«You have to trust your players,» Ham said. «And just believe in them. And when they see that belief, then they tend to perform at a high level.»

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura said Ham showed clips of L.A. playing at a high level in the first quarter of Game 3 — jumping to an 8-0 lead and holding a 33-23 edge heading into the second — to let the