Lakers first-round rotation prediction!Vincent is reused, Ham is rotated by nine, and Russell is the X-factor
The Lakers and Nuggets series will start in three days, the Lakers will meet their old rival again, and the Nuggets, who are also the defending champions, what will the team rotation be like, in last year's playoffs, Coach Ham's rotation can be said to be completely blown up by Coach Malone, every time the score gap is narrowed to less than 5 points, Coach Malone will always adjust the rotation of the defense to widen the difference, and finally the team lost 4 games in a row and was swept. And this time, the team's new lineup will play the Nuggets again, what kind of changes will the rotation have.
Playing a game like the playoffs, or playing with the defending champions, the Lakers rotation may be reduced, and it is predicted that Ham will only use 9 people in the first round, and the starting lineup should not change much, James, Davis, Hachimura, Russell and Reaves, this is the starting lineup that the team has tried for half a season this season, and the effect in the game is very good, and the team also relied on this set of starters to finally get the playoff spot.
Russell and Reaves can handle the ball and catch and shoot, James can play the main offense or play without the ball, although letting Davis play the No. 5 position, which is a lot of consumption for him, but this lineup can match the intensity of the Nuggets' confrontation, and the height does not suffer in all positions, and the offensive and defensive intensity can be full, and the speed can also keep up, this is the strongest starting five of the Lakers at present, and it has been proven many times this season.
As for the rotation, Vincent will definitely be reused, because the Lakers signed him for the purpose of playing in the playoffs, and he is also the value he played in the playoffs last year, in tough games and key games, Vincent has a very good performance, and in the play-off game against the Pelicans, Vincent also showed his value, his three-point and defense are important to the team. Perhaps at some point, Coach Ham will send Vincent to defend Murray, who can be relied upon defensively in the playoffs and is expected to play the most minutes on the team's second team.
Prince will definitely get a chance as well, as a 3-and-D player, the Lakers need his three-point shooting and defense, and if he can make two three-pointers in a game, it will be very helpful for the team, and he can make space for the team in the game, which is very important. There is also Hayes, the Lakers only have Davis on the inside, and he will definitely use Hayes on the court for a few minutes, although he does not expect him to be able to prevent the Nuggets inside, but his ability to eat cakes is still very good, and he can still be competent for a few minutes.
And Dinwiddie will also get a chance, although after joining the Lakers, his personal performance is very inconsistent, but relative to Reddish, Dinwiddie still has a role, at least he has proven himself in the playoffs, in the series, as long as one or two games can play, this is already very good, compared to Reddish, I think Ham will trust Dinwiddie more.
As for the Lakers X factor in this series, it will inevitably be Russell, not to mention the performance of James and Davis, they are the team's basic plate, and if Russell can shoot outside and play a 20-point performance in a single game, the Lakers definitely have a chance, not to mention that they can advance, but at least the result is better than last year.
In the playoffs last season, Russell performed too poorly against the Nuggets, averaging only 6.3 points per game in 4 games, and shooting 13.3% from three-point range.