Getty Rui Hachimura of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers are putting on their rally caps as the season nears its end. After a successful trade deadline that saw them bolster their roster, the Lakers have made a huge push, and on Tuesday night, they took hold of the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
On Tuesday, they took down the Utah Jazz in a game crucial to the seeding out West. Despite some late-game drama, the Lakers prevailed, and Rui Hachimura put up some great numbers off the bench once again. He’s been playing very well lately, and after the game, head coach Darvin Ham praised him for his play.
“It’s always good when you have multiple sources of offensive production,” Ham said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “Whether it’s Dennis [Schroder] getting downhill, Austin [Reaves] doing what he’s doing, and AD [Anthony Davis]. Even Rui. Rui has great segments out there when he puts us on his back for four, five, or seven possessions and gets stuff done for us. Everybody’s just chipping in and moving the ball, and everybody’s participating. Not just with scoring but just doing their part in terms of running to the correct spacing and playing with a purpose, screening with a purpose, cutting with a purpose, and just being ready to make a quick decision once the ball is swung to them.”
For the second game in a row, Hachimura finished with a 15-point night off the bench for the Lakers. Against the Jazz, he finished the night with 17 points, six rebounds, and one assist on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting from behind the three-point line.
LeBron James Has High Praise for Rui Hachimura
In the Lakers’ last game against the Houston Rockets, Hachimura also played very well, dropping 20 points off the bench. After the win over Houston, LeBron James had some high praise for the young forward.
“I think he’s a rhythm player, and when he knows he’s going to play and he’s going to get a significant amount of minutes off the bench, I think he can be really, really good for us,” James said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “I think coach [Darvin] Ham has done a great job over the last couple games, including the coaching staff, of finding a rotation that’s been fitting our team and Rui has been one of the first guys off the bench and we look for him. We know what he’s capable of.”
LeBron James Sounds Off on Anthony Davis
Meanwhile, after the win over Utah, James spoke about how the team adjusted when the Jazz started to double-team Davis in the second half.
“Well, in the second half, they were definitely not trying to let AD play,” James said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “You can see they were doubling him on every catch, so we had to be ready on a perimeter to make plays. But AD was still being aggressive. But in overtime, even though they started overtime with a three-point play, it’s all about just keeping your composure and knowing that five minutes is an eternity. So, for me, I just try to slow the game down in those moments, which I was able to do.”
