Darvin Ham Gives High Praise To Damian Lillard

The new-look Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t escape Rip City with a win.

LeBron James wasn’t on the floor due to an ankle injury, but Darvin Ham still hoped his reinforcements could get the job done against a struggling team.

Needless to say, that wasn’t the case, as Damian Lillard put on a scoring clinic, torching them for 40 points on 56.5% from the floor, adding eight three-pointers, six rebounds, and five assists.

Lillard is one of the most explosive scorers in the league, and there’s only so much you can do to contain him when he’s got a hot hand.

That’s why Ham was brutally honest when asked about his plan to stop him, admitting that there wasn’t much — or anything — he could’ve thought of to keep that from happening:

“He’s such an elite level scorer, basketball player. Smart, finding different ways to get the ball even though we’re trying to deny him off the ball. His movements, the way he navigates and uses screens. He’s just a phenomenal ball player, Anfernee [Simons] as well,” Ham said. “You just try to do your best to make it as difficult as possible for him. Outside of stealing his sneakers, I don’t know what else you can do. You play good D and he still knocks down shots.”

“He’s just a phenomenal ball player… outside stealing his sneakers I don’t know what else to do." Darvin Ham gives credit to Dame tonight and talks about the #Lakers figuring things out. pic.twitter.com/I1xWOckfHn

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 14, 2023

Of course, that’s not what you want to hear from the coach of a team looking to make a playoff push, and one would expect every coaching staff in the league to have a plan in hand to face the best players in the league, let alone in their very same conference.

But then again, it might take a while for the Lakers to figure things out with all the new players they acquire at the NBA trade deadline, and they’ll always be in a tough spot when their best player isn’t on the court.

Still, the Lakers may not have all that time to get it together, and they’ll most likely have to make adjustments on the fly if they want to make the playoffs.