We had a nice stretch in the first quarter, and we kind of surrendered it to them. So we will definitely grab it in the next game.”
It’s not a nice position for the Lakers to blow a 19-point lead in less than a quarter, but there is still some time to turn things around; not much, but enough to stack victories. Hachimura is confident coming into the final stretch, but Wednesday elevated the probability of L.A. participating in the Play-In Tournament once more.
Rui Hachimura has struggled to find a consistent role in his first full season with the Los Angeles Lakers, having started the season on the bench due to injuries. However, now that head coach Darvin Ham has established Hachimura as a starter, he has put together some excellent offensive games for Los Angeles.
Another spectacular performance came on Wednesday, in a must-win game against the Sacramento Kings as the Lakers compete for seeding. The 26-year-old came out firing on the offensive end, hitting jumpers, attacking the paint, and even getting into the passing lanes early in the first quarter.
Despite Hachimura’s 29 points on 13-of-17 shooting and the Lakers’ early 19-point lead in the First, the Kings turned the tables in the second quarter and never looked back. Hachimura described the game’s flip as occurring in the second frame, when De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk caught fire.
“I was talking at halftime, I said we had the greatest start the whole season,” Hachimura stated at the time. “It was a tremendous start, and we were locked in defensively. We’re sharing the ball on offense, and we’re moving. They reappeared unexpectedly, probably in the second quarter. We couldn’t figure out Malik [Monk] and [De’Aaron] Fox’s rhythm for the entire game. We attempted to make a comeback in the third and early fourth quarters, but
It was kind of too late. They were already in a rhythm, and when both of them are in a rhythm, it’s difficult to play defense because we can’t really double or anything. So, yes, the second quarter was the game.
This might be a game that discourages the team in the future, but Hachimura maintains optimistic in the Lakers’ ability to make a run; nonetheless, he emphasizes that they cannot afford to squander time.
“We’re pretty confident,” he explained. “We’ve just got to lock in. We don’t have time to relax. For example, in today’s game, we were up by 20 or so points in the first quarter, and then we relaxed, and they were up by 20. We cannot relax at any time. I believe that was a solid start. We always have trouble starting the game and getting into it.
“But tonight was a terrific example; we need to play like that throughout the game. And we can do it; we just have to lock in as a team, first unit, second unit, whatever, and whoever gets into the game comes out. We’ve all got to lock in.”
While the former Gonzaga Bulldog exudes optimism on a night packed with pessimism, he admits to regret that this was a missed chance for Los Angeles owing to playoff implications against the Kings.
“For sure,” Hachimura replied. “We discussed it before the game. We checked the rankings, discussed other teams, and said, ‘This is going to be a big game, you know.’ And, as we already stated, that was an important game, and I believe we will face them again next week. But, yes, this was a big one.
