Darvin Ham sat down on the podium a contented man late Friday evening, his Lakers workforce having simply disposed of the Memphis Grizzlies, his underdog workforce having moved on to the subsequent spherical of the Western Convention playoffs.
The Lakers coach appeared up and heard an excited voice from the again of the room earlier than any questions had been requested.
“Whoooeee!” Ham’s spouse, Deneitra, yelled.
“Oh, sorry,” she mentioned, realizing that an interview was about to happen.
Ham appeared up and smiled.
“Thanks, child,” he mentioned.
Ham and his spouse had purpose to be in a joyous temper.
The Lakers had simply defeated the trash-talking Grizzlies 125-85 at Crypto.com Enviornment to win the best-of-seven collection 4-2 and advance to the second spherical of the playoffs.
The Lakers saved transferring ahead after beginning the season 2-10, finally defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves within the NBA’s play-in recreation to turn out to be the seventh seed.
LeBron James wished his youthful teammates to benefit from the second, however he additionally wished them to grasp that the subsequent spherical shall be even more durable.
The Lakers will face both the fourth-seeded Sacramento Kings or fifth-seeded Golden State Warriors, the 2 enjoying Sunday afternoon in Recreation 7.
The Lakers will take off Saturday and Sunday earlier than practising Monday. Recreation 1 of the second-round collection shall be Tuesday.
Ham mentioned he and his workers will watch the Kings-Warriors recreation and start preparation for an additional all-out basketball warfare.
“The workers and I’ll get collectively on Sunday, watch the sport, and whoever comes out, I imply, we’ve already been working behind the scenes,” Ham mentioned. “You don’t wish to wait until you get up to now after which begin the preparation course of. We’ve already been doing that. So, whoever comes out on prime, we’ll be able to go.”
The Lakers had been 1-3 in opposition to the Kings through the common season and 3-1 in opposition to the Warriors. All three of the Lakers’ wins in opposition to the Warriors got here after the Feb. 9 commerce deadline that netted Los Angeles D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Malik Beasley. All three of the Lakers’ losses to the Kings got here earlier than L.A. acquired them.
The second-round video games will come each different day, leaving little time to relaxation.
“Properly, it’s undoubtedly going to be a problem,” James mentioned in regards to the schedule. “However each groups should undergo it. It’s us, both Sacramento or Golden State. We’re going to each be on the identical schedule. The plus is that it’s not a four-hour flight like we had been simply taking going to Memphis and shedding two hours through the course of.
“So, you was shedding six hours simply going again there, proper off bounce. So, we keep in the identical time zone. We keep in the identical state. It’s a hour flight to every place, much less if it’s Sac, a bit of bit extra if it’s to the Bay. So, that undoubtedly helps.”
The Lakers didn’t wish to return to Memphis for a Recreation 7 on Sunday.
This was their recreation to win and Ham went all-in by sticking to an eight-man rotation.
“It was undoubtedly a Recreation 7 mentality for us,” James mentioned. “We understood that we had a possibility to play in entrance of our followers and we wished to attempt to finish it tonight. We got here out with a disposition, with a next-play mentality. And even after we made errors, we brushed it off straight away and moved on to the subsequent play.
“So, I simply assume from the beginning of the sport, we had been simply locked in on our recreation plan and all the way in which till the ultimate seconds of the sport.”