<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-jj-redick-instantly-shuts-down-reporters-rui-hachimura-question');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers HC JJ Redick instantly shuts down reporter’s Rui Hachimura question');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Lakers-news-JJ-Redick-instantly-shuts-down-reporters-Rui-Hachimura-question.jpg"></figure><h1>Lakers HC JJ Redick instantly shuts down reporter’s Rui Hachimura question</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-03T19:21:27-07:00">October 3rd, 7:21pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-03T19:23:45-07:00">October 3rd, 7:23pm</time><address><a>Christopher Smith</a>Christopher Smith is an associate editor covering a variety of sports with a beat focus on the Chicago Sky for ClutchPoints. The Aurora, Illinois native earned a degree in philosophy from Creighton University, where he also competed as a Division 1 Cross Country runner.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers are entering an exciting 2023-24 season. Despite coming up short in its last few playoff runs, the Lakers are returning some stout contributors, led by none other than LeBron James. LA also brought in former NBA role player and commentator JJ Redick as their new head coach. Redick gave a notable reaction to a reporter after practice when asked about the growing role of Rui Hachimura.</p><p>On Thursday, a reporter asked Redick if he thinks Hachimura can “take the next” for the Lakers. Redick asked the reporter what he believed the next step was. The reporter then asked Redick the same question, and Redick <a href="https://x.com/DevDock/status/1841806393910997427" rel="noopener">gave this response</a>:</p><p>“You tell me… you’re creating the narrative. I don’t care about what the next step is for Rui. I care how he impacts winning on our team. And for me, that’s my step,” Redick said during the Lakers’ post-practice press availability.</p><p>Rui Hachimura averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and shot a red-hot 42.2 percent on his three-pointers. Hachimura thrived as a sparkplug for Los Angeles, but perhaps “the next step” is for him to increase his scoring output and maintain a sound defensive presence.</p><p>JJ Redick wants Hachimura to use his offensive strengths to give Los Angeles reliable scoring during the 2024-25 season.</p><p>“We have to look for opportunities for him to use his skills, particularly as an iso and post-up player. We have to be cognizant of what his shot profile looks like in terms of midrange shots and the volume and percentage of shots he’s taken from the midrange. But I think what we talked about with him and what we want to emphasize with him, he will have a high-level impact on winning,” Reddick added.</p><p>Hachimura is entering his third year with the Lakers and seventh in the NBA. Surely, he will do all he can to help the squad be successful.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers HC JJ Redick instantly shuts down reporter’s Rui Hachimura question

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-patrick-beverley-second-option-mindset');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Rui Hachimura urged by Patrick Beverley to take ‘second option’ mindset');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Rui-Hachimura-urged-by-Patrick-Beverley-to-take-second-option-mindset.jpg"></figure><h1>Lakers’ Rui Hachimura urged by Patrick Beverley to take ‘second option’ mindset</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-24T10:15:06-07:00">September 24th, 10:15am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-24T10:15:06-07:00">September 24th, 10:15am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers have quite the season ahead of them. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/does-darvin-ham-regret-not-immediately-starting-rui-hachimura">Lakers forward Rui Hachimura caught the eye of fans</a> and of a former Laker, Patrick Beverley. On the Pat Bev podcast, he explained how Hachimura <a href="https://basketnews.com/news-212004-pat-beverley-urges-rui-hachimura-to-change-mindset-hes-not-the-x-factor-to-me.html#google_vignette" rel="noopener">needs to approach the 2024-25 NBA season</a>.</p><p>“Rui is a good basketball player,” Beverley said. “But he’s not the X-factor to me. He should be the X-factor because he gets paid as the X-factor. He needs to do more, he has to come in like, ‘I’m the second option.'”</p><p>Hachimura proved to be a legitimate scoring threat for the Lakers in his second season with the team. He started 39 of the 68 games he played in. The Gonzaga standout averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and shot a career-high 42.2% from three-point land. At 6’8 and 230 pounds, Hachimura provides a very unique build. He’s quick enough to get by bigger forwards and centers, but bigger than some forwards and guards.</p><p>The former Washington Wizard played meaningless minutes before joining the Lakers. Since heading to the City of Angels, he’s been a valuable young player the Lakers have needed.</p><h2><b>Is Patrick Beverley right about Lakers’ Rui Hachimura?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Patrick-Beverley-believes-Rui-Hachimurs-should-be-a-second-option.jpg"><figcaption>© Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Beverley isn’t the first player to think of Hachimura as a top-tier player. Former <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-metta-world-peace-sounds-off-rui-hachimuras-all-star-potential-big-game-nuggets">Laker Metta World Peace believes that Hachimura has all-star potential</a>. The skillset is there and there’s been an improvement in nearly every facet of his game since entering the league. Regardless, Beverley remains skeptical of Hachimura’s approach that’s preventing him from taking the next step.</p><p>“Rui, this past year and playing with him, I don’t think he has that attitude of ‘I missed 7, the next one’s going in,'” Beverley said. “So, I think once he changes that, it changes him as a basketball player.”</p><p>With Hachimura set to be in the starting lineup, there can be more expectations for the Japanese-born forward. In his projected 36-minutes, Hachimura will average <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hachiru01.html" rel="noopener">18.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists</a>, and shoot over 50% from the field and 40% from three.</p><p>Even with the increase of points, Beverley thinks that once Hachimura’s mentality changes, he’ll evolve right before everyone’s eyes.</p><p>“His mindset needs to be like, ‘It’s AD (Anthony Davis) here, it’s LeBron (James) here, it’s Austin Reaves here, it’s D. Lo (D’Angelo Russell) here,” Beverley said. I’m the second option.'”</p><p>The Lakers look to head back to championship prominence in the 2024-25 season. As Hachimura makes his presence in the starting lineup, it can add youth, versatility, and new depth  an old Lakers roster.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Rui Hachimura urged by Patrick Beverley to take ‘second option’ mindset

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/olympics-news-rui-hachimura-addresses-injury-that-ended-his-2024-run');   ga('set', 'title', 'Olympics news: Rui Hachimura addresses injury that ended his 2024 run');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Olympics-news-Rui-Hachimura-addresses-injury-that-ended-his-2024-run.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Olympics news: Rui Hachimura addresses injury that ended his 2024 run</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-02T11:48:48-07:00">August 2nd, 11:48am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-02T11:49:20-07:00">August 2nd, 11:49am</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Los Angeles Lakers’ forward Rui Hachimura has suffered a significant setback due to a left calf injury, effectively ending his participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to a statement from Japan’s basketball federation released early Friday. Hachimura felt discomfort following Japan’s 94-90 overtime loss to France and subsequently underwent an MRI that confirmed a gastrocnemius muscle injury. This injury prevented him from participating in Japan’s next game against Brazil.</p><h2><b>Los Angeles Lakers’ forward Rui Hachimura reflects on injury and Japan’s Olympic experience</b></h2><p>In a released statement, Hachimura <a href="https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40705001/rui-hachimura-leaves-japan-men-hoops-team-calf-injury" rel="noopener">expressed his disappointment and gratitude</a>: “As my injury required early treatment, I was unfortunately unable to accompany the team in accordance with NBA/FIBA rules. I would like to thank all the spectators who supported me at the venue, basketball fans around the world, and all the fans in Japan,” he stated. “I think that together with my teammates, we played a very good game for Japanese basketball. I am proud to have been able to play as a member of Akatsuki Japan.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/paris2024?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#paris2024</a> Olympics are over for Rui Hachimura as the Los Angeles Lakers star left Japan national team 🤕 <a href="https://t.co/YtUg3Sw7MO">pic.twitter.com/YtUg3Sw7MO</a></p><p>— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) <a href="https://twitter.com/BasketNews_com/status/1819245043367948551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>In <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-victor-wembanyama-reacts-insane-finish-france-overtime-win-over-japan">the loss to France</a>, Hachimura logged 29 minutes, scoring a game-high 24 points. However, Japan fell to 0-3 in the tournament and subsequently faced elimination from contention with a 102-84 loss to Brazil. Throughout his Olympic campaign, Hachimura <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/mens-olympic-basketball-tournament-paris-2024/teams/japan/206395-rui-hachimura" rel="noopener">averaged 22 points and 6.5 assists per game</a>, shooting 42.9% from beyond the arc.</p><p>The 6’8″ forward played in 68 games for the Lakers last season, starting 39. He posted averages of 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 42.2% from three-point range. His performance has been vital for the Lakers, who are now looking ahead to their upcoming season.</p><h2><b>Uncertain recovery timeline for Hachimura ahead of new NBA season</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/rui-hachimura.jpg"><figcaption>© John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The Lakers will regroup in September for training camp, followed by three preseason games in October. The 2024-25 NBA season is set to begin on October 22. However, it remains unclear whether Hachimura will be ready to join the team by then. Recovery from a gastrocnemius muscle injury can vary significantly, with timelines ranging from as little as 1-3 weeks to as long as six months to a full year.</p><p>The Lakers and their medical staff are closely monitoring Hachimura’s rehabilitation to determine when he can safely return to play. His presence on the court is crucial for the Lakers as they look to improve on last year’s performance. Hachimura’s versatility and scoring ability make him a key player for the team, and his potential absence could impact their strategies and rotations. The Lakers’ coaching staff will need to make adjustments and possibly look for other players to step up in Hachimura’s absence.</p><p>Updates on Hachimura’s recovery will be keenly awaited as the new NBA season approaches. Despite his limited playing time and abysmal performance in the playoffs, the Lakers, along with their fans, hope to see him back in action soon, fully recovered and ready to contribute to the team’s success in the upcoming season. The team has high aspirations for the season, and Hachimura’s return could be a significant boost to their lineup. His recovery will be a focal point as the Lakers prepare for what they hope will be a successful campaign.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Olympics news: Rui Hachimura addresses injury that ended his 2024 run

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rui-hachimura-net-worth');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rui Hachimura’s net worth in 2024');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Rui-Hachimuras-net-worth-in-2024-slide1.jpg"></figure><h1>Rui Hachimura’s net worth in 2024</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-24T15:40:43-07:00">June 24th, 3:40pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-24T15:40:43-07:00">June 24th, 3:40pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/spencersee10" rel="facebook">Spencer See</a>Spencer See is a part-time writer at ClutchPoints focusing on the NBA, evergreen content and celebrity lifestyle. He is also a lifelong fan of LeBron James. In his free time, he either goes fishing or watches basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Rui Hachimura’s net worth in 2024 is $12 million. Hachimura is a power forward for the Los Angeles Lakers. He is a former All-Rookie Second Team player. Hachimura is currently one of two Japanese players that’s actively playing in the NBA. Let’s take a closer look at Rui Hachimura’s net worth in 2024.</p><h2><b>What is Rui Hachimura’s net worth in 2024?: $12 million (estimate)</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Rui-Hachimuras-net-worth-in-2024-slide2.jpg"></figure><p>Rui Hachimura’s net worth in 2024 <a href="https://caknowledge.com/rui-hachimura-net-worth/#google_vignette" rel="noopener">is $12 million</a>. This is according to reputable outlets such as CA Knowledge.</p><p>Rui Hachimura was born on Feb. 8, 1988, in Toyama, Japan, to a Japanese mother and a Beninese father. He attended Meisei High School. Hachimura suited up for the team’s high school varsity team. Hachimura led Meisei High School to consecutive All-Japan High School Tournament championships by averaging 28 points per game, according to <a href="https://gozags.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/rui-hachimura/2524" rel="noopener">sources</a>.</p><p>After graduating from high school, Hachimura committed to Gonzaga. Hachimura played three seasons with the Bulldogs. In a Bulldogs uniform, he averaged 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.</p><p>With Hachimura in the lineup, Gonzaga took the top seed in the West in 2017 and 2019 NCAA Tournament. Furthermore, the Bulldogs also made the National Championship Game in 2017. Hachimura finished his college career with two First Team All-ACC selections, WCC Player of the Year, Consensus first team All-American, and the Julius Erving Award.</p><h2><b>Rui Hachimura is drafted by the Wizards</b></h2><p>After three seasons with the Bulldogs, Hachimura decided to forego his remaining year of college eligibility by officially declaring for the 2019 NBA Draft. On draft night, the Washington Wizards selected Hachimura in the first round with the ninth-overall pick.</p><p>In the process, Hachimura became the first Japanese player to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Furthermore, he’s also one of a handful of Asian basketball players, headlined by Yao Ming, to be selected as a lottery pick.</p><p>Shortly after the draft, Hachimura signed a <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/rui-hachimura-31566/transactions/" rel="noopener">four-year rookie deal</a> worth $20.34 million with the Wizards, according to Spotrac. In his rookie season, Hachimura averaged 13.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. For his efforts, Hachimura was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.</p><p>As the seasons went by Hachimura continued to be a reliable starting forward for the Wizards. However, his NBA career hit a snag after Hachimura <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/wizards-forward-rui-hachimura-to-miss-start-of-training-camp">missed</a> the team’s training camp and first few games of the 2021-22 season.</p><h2><b>Rui Hachimura is traded to the Lakers</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">JUST IN: The Wizards are finalizing a deal to trade Rui Hachimura to the Lakers for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks, per our NBA Insider <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShamsCharania</a>. <a href="https://t.co/ixfReRHu3O">pic.twitter.com/ixfReRHu3O</a></p><p>— Stadium (@Stadium) <a href="https://twitter.com/Stadium/status/1617578356295213056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Hachimura only played for the Wizards until the 2022-23 season. Midway through, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-lakers-on-verge-of-rui-hachimura-trade-with-wizards">Wizards traded</a> the former All-Rookie Team player to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that also involved Kendrick Nunn.</p><p>For the rest of the season, Hachimura put up 9.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game in a Lakers uniform. He was also part of the Lakers squad that went all the way to the Western Conference Finals before the eventual champions, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, swept them.</p><p>After a convincing effort by the Japanese star, Hachimura agreed to sign a three-year contract worth $51 million, as per <a href="https://lakersnation.com/los-angeles-lakers-re-sign-rui-hachimura-to-three-year-contract/" rel="noopener">reports</a>. After signing the deal, Hachimura helped the Lakers win the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, which is now known as the NBA Cup.</p><p>During the Lakers’ NBA Cup run, Hachimura averaged 9.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. With the Lakers becoming inaugural NBA Cup champions, the entire team, including Hachimura, received an additional $500,000 paycheck, according to <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2023/12/10/23995558/nba-in-season-tournament-los-angeles-lakers-lebron-james-anthony-davis#:~:text=2023%20NBA%20In%2DSeason%20Tournament%20Winners%20and%20Losers&amp;text=All%20the%20Lakers%20players%20are,and%20use%20it%20next%20spring." rel="noopener">reports</a>.</p><p>Given Hachimura’s rising popularity in the NBA, it isn’t surprising that the Lakers forward has earned the attention of major brands. In fact, he has signed endorsement deals with major brands such as Casio, SMBC Group, Nissin Food Corp, and Jordan Brand.</p><h2><b>Rui Hachimura representing Japan internationally</b></h2><p>Hachimura also represents Japan in international competitions. At the 2013 FIBA Asia U-16 Championships, Hachimura led Japan to a gold-medal finish. Furthermore, Hachimura also wore the national team colors at the FIBA World Cup 2019 Asian qualifiers and at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.</p><p>At the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Hachimura averaged 13.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Japan finished 31st in the international meet. Despite a winless effort, the Japan squad still managed to pocket $200,000 each, according to <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/fiba-world-cup-prize-money" rel="noopener">reports</a>.</p><p>Hachimura returned to national team duties for Japan when the country hosted the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hachimura served as the flag bearer for the host nation.</p><p>With the Japan national team, Hachimura put up 22.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Unfortunately, Japan finished 11th place out of 12 teams at the Summer Games in another winless finish.</p><p>Nevertheless, were you at all stunned by Rui Hachimura’s net worth in 2024?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rui Hachimura’s net worth in 2024

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-gets-brutally-honest-on-what-la-is-lacking-vs-nuggets');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rui Hachimura gets brutally honest on what Lakers lack vs Nuggets');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lakers-news-Rui-Hachimura-gets-brutally-honest-on-what-LA-is-lacking-vs.-Nuggets.jpg"><figcaption>4/26/24</figcaption></figure><h1>Rui Hachimura gets brutally honest on what Lakers lack vs Nuggets</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-26T17:24:16-07:00">April 26th, 5:24pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-26T17:24:16-07:00">April 26th, 5:24pm</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a>Jack Winter is a veteran NBA writer and editor based on the West Coast. He currently lives in Oakland, covering the Golden State Warriors.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers are on the verge of getting swept out of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets for the second straight season. Making those dire straits even worse, they’re coming off what many league followers legitimately and sarcastically called the “most competitive sweep ever” by coming closer to beating the defending champs while still remaining so, so far away.</p><p>LeBron James, Anthony Davis and company took another double-digit lead on Thursday night before Denver took complete control in the second half, marking the third straight game of the series Los Angeles went up by 10-plus points in an ultimately losing effort. Since 2003, 90 teams have managed double-digit advantages in the first three games of a playoff series, according to OptaStats. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-collapses-nuggets-historic-levels">Los Angeles is the only one to fall</a> in each of them.</p><p>Despite their penchant for building big leads against Denver, reality has clearly set in for the purple-and-gold in wake of Game 3. Facing a do-or-die matchup with the reigning champions at Crypto.com Arena on Friday, Rui Hachimura revealed the biggest difference between the Lakers and Nuggets driving the latter’s dominance: Experience playing together.</p><p>“Clearly we have to do something better. Of course, we’ve been trying. We’ve been watching a lot of film of them, we’re adjusting different coverages and all that,” he said, per Los Angeles beat writer Michael Corvo of ClutchPoints. “But as a team, my opinion is we just don’t have enough experience. We just talked about it in the film, too. They’ve been a team, they’ve been together for like five years. That starting lineup, they’ve played together for most games or whatever in the past two years. Obviously they have more experience. We’re up 20, we’re up 10, they’re up 20, they’re up 10—they’re the same team. They’re very consistent in all that.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Rui Hachimura: “Clearly, we have to do something better. Of course, we’ve been trying. We’ve been watching a lot of film…We’re adjusting different coverage and all that. But, as a team, in my opinion, we just don’t have enough experience…They’ve been together for like 5 years.” <a href="https://t.co/AknOxrGILb">pic.twitter.com/AknOxrGILb</a></p><p>— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelcorvo_/status/1783954716181057928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Nikola Jokic points to Nuggets’ experience as ultimate trump card</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nuggets-Nikola-Jokic-Jamal-Murray-and-Aaron-Gordon.jpg"><figcaption>Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Nikola Jokic shared a <a href="https://twitter.com/HarrisonWind/status/1783744492862120337" rel="noopener">similar sentiment</a> concerning Denver’s obvious advantage in on-court cohesion and chemistry on the postgame podium after Game 3.</p><p>The Nuggets have been playing broadly the same style of basketball offensively since Jokic came into his own as a franchise player in the late 2010s. He and Jamal Murray have been their on and off-court cornerstones for the duration of that stretch. Michael Porter Jr. cemented himself as Denver’s third option in 2020-21, the same season <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-aaron-gordon-speaks-out-on-getting-traded-to-denver-instead-of-celtics">Denver pushed its chips in for Aaron Gordon</a> at the trade deadline. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope arrived via trade in summer 2022.</p><p>It’s not just that the Nuggets’ core maximizes individual strengths and mitigates individual weaknesses. There’s not a more additive offensive player in basketball than Jokic, while Gordon and Caldwell-Pope are basically tailor made to prop up Jokic, Murray and Porter defensively. But fit isn’t enough to win at the highest levels of basketball consistently. Jokic knows it takes multiple years of time on the floor together, too.</p><p>“Actually, first was me and Gary Harris, then me and Jamal. We had the group when Jameer Nelson was here with Wilson Chandler. First of all, you need to learn how to play,” he said of the Nuggets’ sustained continuity after Game 3, per Harrison Wind of DNVR. “You get the core, then we add [Michael Porter Jr.], then we add [Aaron Gordon], then we add [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope]—just adding players that know how to play and know where to be. Then you need to experience like two, three years together just to learn how to play with each other, then you’re gonna learn your teammates. You’re gonna kinda read his steps, how he’s gonna go, if he go left hand, if he go right hand. I think I know what all they’re gonna do in certain spots on the floor.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Nikola Jokic on building the Nuggets' read-and-react offense: He mentions his chemistry with Gary Harris, Jameer Nelson, Wilson Chandler and then Jamal Murray.</p><p>"First, you need to learn how to play."</p><p>"You need 2-3 years together to learn how to play with each other. <a href="https://t.co/aREWPKdbKT">pic.twitter.com/aREWPKdbKT</a></p><p>— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) <a href="https://twitter.com/HarrisonWind/status/1783744492862120337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Jokic has been easily the best player in this series despite standout moments and stretches from James and Davis. Denver has <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612743/onoffcourt-traditional?PerMode=Totals&amp;SeasonType=Playoffs">won the non-Jokic minutes</a> by one through the first three games, a virtually guaranteed death-knell for any opponent. The Nuggets’ supporting cast has sorely outplayed the Lakers’, with not just Porter, Gordon and Caldwell-Pope providing far more than Austin Reaves, Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell, but also their young, inexperienced bench making a much bigger impact than Los Angeles’ reserves.</p><p>Those factors, to be clear, loom larger than the dynamic raised independently by both Hachimura and Jokic in terms of the Lakers’ general struggles against the Nuggets. But a stark difference in continuity and togetherness could very well be the reason Los Angeles has been truly helpless to beat Denver, on verge of getting swept for the second year in a row.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rui Hachimura gets brutally honest on what Lakers lack vs Nuggets

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rui-hachimuras-lakers-playoff-issues-get-jontay-porter-comparison-from-shannon-sharpe');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rui Hachimura’s Lakers playoff issues get Jontay Porter comparison from Shannon Sharpe');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rui-Hachimuras-playoff-struggles-get-Jontay-Porter-comparison-from-Shannon-Sharpe.jpg"></figure><h1>Rui Hachimura’s Lakers playoff issues get Jontay Porter comparison from Shannon Sharpe</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-23T17:15:21-07:00">April 23rd, 5:15pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-23T17:15:21-07:00">April 23rd, 5:15pm</time><address><a>Fabian Diego Miguel de la Paz</a>Diego de la Paz has lived and breathed sports throughout most of his life. A former track and field varsity athlete, he has had the rare opportunity of covering the NBA, UFC, boxing, and professional tennis on the ground throughout his journalism career. He is also working as a play-by-play commentator for recreational sports leagues in his spare time.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Rui Hachimura is facing a tough customer in the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe did not hold back on his critique of the Los Angeles Lakers forward’s lackluster play.</p><p>Sharpe made a <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1782824742870823165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener">tongue-in-cheek reference</a> to disgraced former Toronto Raptors reserve Jontay Porter as he took to ESPN’s First Take to highlight Hachimura’s struggles so far in the first two games of the Lakers’ series against the defending NBA champions.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Maybe [Rui Hachimura] talked to Michael Porter Jr.’s brother, because I think he took the under on the 10 points the betting sites had him.”</p><p>Shannon Sharpe calls out Rui after the Lakers’ Game 2 loss last night 😅</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FirstTake</a>) <a href="https://t.co/t1FsHUlFWM">pic.twitter.com/t1FsHUlFWM</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1782824742870823165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“Maybe [Rui Hachimura] talked to Michael Porter Jr.’s [younger] brother [Jontay], because I think he took the under on the 10 points the betting sites had him,” said Sharpe. “[B]ro, how’d you miss that many layups? How’d you have three points?”</p><p>The remarks by Sharpe made reference to Porter, who received a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/raptors-jontay-porter-hit-with-nba-banhammer-after-violating-gambling-rules">lifetime ban from the NBA</a> earlier this month after an investigation found he was in violation of league gambling rules.</p><h2>Rui Hachimura a missing piece in the Lakers’ NBA Playoffs first round series against the Nuggets</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Playoffs-Los-Angeles-Lakers-at-Denver-Nuggets.jpg"><figcaption>Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>In 68 games this season, Rui Hachimura averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 26.9 minutes on the floor. However, Hachimura’s production in the NBA Playoffs series was particularly hit as he was limited to seven points and three rebounds in Game 1, followed by a paltry three points and five rebounds in Game 2.</p><p>During Game 1, Hachimura was assigned the unenviable task to take on the primary defender role on two-time MVP Nikola Jokic. However, Hachimura was ineffective in stopping Jokic as he posted 32 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists during the 114-103 win.</p><p>Subsequently, Anthony Davis was put on Jokic in Game 2, but the latter continued his reign of terror over the Lakers with a triple-double of 27 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists, with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-jamal-murrays-crazy-game-winner-completes-denvers-20-point-game-2-comeback-vs-lakers">Nuggets coming back</a> from 20 points down in the second half to take a 101-99 win and a commanding 2-0 series lead.</p><p>Following the loss in Game 2, Lakers Head Coach Darvin Ham, LeBron James, and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-los-angeles-lebron-james-anthony-davis-denver-nuggets-nba-playoffs-game-2">D’Angelo Russell expressed dismay</a> at the officiating, including a foul call in the third quarter that was overturned by officials following a coach’s challenge by Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.</p><p>Anthony Davis, however, was more critical of himself following the loss as he allowed the Jokic triple-double, as well as being unable to close out Jamal Murray’s game-winning jumper in front of the Nuggets’ bench at the buzzer.</p><p>The Lakers seek to pull a game back on the Nuggets when the series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rui Hachimura’s Lakers playoff issues get Jontay Porter comparison from Shannon Sharpe

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-x-factor-vs-nuggets-in-2024-nba-playoffs-and-its-not-rui-hachimura');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ X-factor vs. Nuggets in 2024 NBA Playoffs and it’s not Rui Hachimura');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_0429.jpeg"></figure><h1>Lakers’ X-factor vs. Nuggets in 2024 NBA Playoffs and it’s not Rui Hachimura</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-19T16:37:58-07:00">April 19th, 4:37pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-19T16:41:32-07:00">April 19th, 4:41pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is based in Los Angeles and currently covers basketball at every level from NBA/WNBA to men/women college and boys/girls high school.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers come into the 2024 NBA Playoffs with a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lebron-james-los-angeles-lakers-dangelo-russell-nba-playoffs-denver-nuggets">little bit of momentum</a>. After hovering around the 9-11 range for most of the season, they used strong play, and a little help from teams ahead of them, to surge into the 7-8 range in the waining days of the regular season. As the Lakers get set to open the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Denver Nuggets, backup guard Gabe Vincent <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-gabe-vincent-anthony-davis-darvin-ham-los-angeles">could be</a> the X-factor.</p><p>The Lakers came into the postseason needing a win in the play-in tournament to advance to the first round. Although the Lakers were the eighth seed in the Western Conference standings, they took care of business against the New Orleans Pelicans to move up to the No. 7 seed and <a href="https://twitter.com/MagicJohnson/status/1781421913111458044" rel="noopener">a rematch</a> with the Nuggets.</p><p>Last season, the Lakers used a surprising run to reach the Western Conference Finals where they squared off against the Nuggets. It resulted in a 4-0 sweep for the Nuggets who ultimately went on to win the NBA title. The Lakers are hoping that this time around, things might be a little different.</p><p>A big part of the Lakers turnaround this season was the insertion of Rui Hachimura back into the starting lineup and Darvin Ham settling on a rotation. Hachimura has the potential to be the Lakers’ X-factor this series, but there’s another player who could fit that bill a bit better in Gabe Vincent.</p><p>Vincent missed the majority of the 2023-24 season due to injury, but he’s since made his return to the lineup and has already made an impact on the court.</p><h2><b>Gabe Vincent could shine for the Lakers against the Nuggets</b></h2><p>One thing about Gabe Vincent is that he’s already faced this Nuggets team as a member of the Miami Heat during last year’s NBA Finals. He was the starting point guard for the Heat. He’s coming off the bench for the Lakers, but he’s already made his presence felt.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_0430.jpeg"><figcaption>Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>During the Lakers win against the Pelicans in the play-in, Vincent came off the bench to finish with nine points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 18 minutes. He shot 3-6 from the field, all three pointers. He only was able to appear in 11 games for the team this season.</p><p>During those 11 games, he averaged 3.1 points per game, 0.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists with splits of 30.6 percent shooting from the field, 10.7 percent shooting from the three point line and 50 percent shooting from the free throw line. Obviously his injury issues had a lot to do with his decreased shooting efficiency.</p><p>Vincent had a breakout year with the Heat last season and that players is more on par with who he is rather than his small sample size with the Lakers so far. What the team needs from him against the Nuggets is consistent three point shooting and defense.</p><p>One of the main things the Nuggets have been criticized for is having poor depth compared to last season’s team. It’s arguable that the Lakers have superior depth to the Nuggets. Vincent could be a big reason why. Last year the Lakers struggled to consistently knock down three point shots. Vincent can help in that aspect.</p><p>He can also spend time guarding Nuggets star guard Jamal Murray. The Lakers had no answer for him last season and while there is no stopping him directly, Vincent can perhaps slow him down a bit and make things hard for him.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ X-factor vs. Nuggets in 2024 NBA Playoffs and it’s not Rui Hachimura

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-golden-state-warriors-los-angeles-anthony-davis-lebron-james');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers lack ‘energy’ vs. Warriors without Anthony Davis, per Rui Hachimura');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/rui-hachimura-lakers-warriors-lebron-james-stephen-curry.jpg"></figure><h1>Lakers lack ‘energy’ vs. Warriors without Anthony Davis, per Rui Hachimura</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-10T00:19:50-07:00">April 10th, 12:19am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-10T00:19:50-07:00">April 10th, 12:19am</time><address><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/author/michaelc/">Michael Corvo</a>Michael Corvo has been the Los Angeles Lakers beat reporter for ClutchPoints since 2021. He also covers golf and movies. One day, he hopes to see the New York Jets win another playoff game. Inspirations: Paul Giamatti, Shane Falco, Phife Dawg.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With Anthony Davis <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-anthony-davis-land-injury-report-worrisome-health-issues">too unwell to play</a> and LeBron James battling the flu, Rui Hachimura couldn’t help but feel like the Los Angeles Lakers were unable to summon their customary post-January form against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night — despite the immensely high stakes of the showdown.</p><p>“It was a tough game for us,” <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelcorvo_/status/1777922675736014947" rel="noopener">said Hachimura</a>, who had 20 points (7-for-21 shooting) and 11 rebounds in the Lakers’ 134-120 loss. “We were trying to figure out whose gonna play or not. We just didn’t have the energy tonight from the start of the game. As a team, just didn’t bring the way that we used to play a couple of games ago. We were rolling. We were playing together. But we didn’t do that tonight.”</p><p>The Lakers have dropped two of three contests since returning from their 5-1 road trip.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">GP2 got UP for this denial 😱🚫 <a href="https://t.co/dLFbzbsyvR">https://t.co/dLFbzbsyvR</a> <a href="https://t.co/qxAfxn62p9">pic.twitter.com/qxAfxn62p9</a></p><p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1777914313593802899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>About two hours before tip-off, Davis was ruled out with headaches/nausea — presumably stemming from the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-anthony-davis-los-angeles-minnesota-timberwolves-eye-injury">left eye injury</a> that coast him the final three quarters of Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.</p><p>LeBron, meanwhile, arrived at Crypto.com Arena about an hour before tip. LeBron has been ill since the weekend and had to skip Sunday’s contest.</p><p>“Just tried to get as much rest as I could,” LeBron explained. “Stay hydrated as much as I could to give my team as much as I could today. I came in Sunday, for a normal prep day for the Minnesota game, it started to get worse as the minutes went on so I went home and today was pretty much one of the first days that I was able to get out of the room, get out of bed, and feel a little bit of energy.”</p><p>LeBron finished with 33 points and 11 assists on 14-of-22 shooting in 36 minutes vs. Golden State.</p><p>“They do so much of our team,” said Austin Reaves (22 points, seven rebounds, and six assists). “But I think at the end of the day, Bron showed up and played a heck of a game. Obviously, when you don’t have AD, it’s tough just cause he does so much for us. Think we just gotta be better overall.”</p><p>“I thought Bron was phenomenal,” said Darvin Ham. “He came out and gave it his all.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">LeBron James sinks the turnaround jumper to cut the deficit to single digits in the 4th quarter!</p><p>GSW-LAL on TNT <a href="https://t.co/pP3S6BWasb">pic.twitter.com/pP3S6BWasb</a></p><p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1777908266418249848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p> </p><p>The shorthanded Lakers still outscored the Warriors in the paint and kept things about even on the glass (42-40). But Golden State’s offensive fluidity proved too vexing for the Lakers without their irreplaceable defensive anchor/backline communicator.</p><p>“When AD’s on the court, he’s always behind us, protecting everything,” said Hachimura. “There was nobody really protecting tonight.”</p><p>“At the end of the day, we know we’re as good as any team in the league when we’re whole,” said LeBron. “…Having a guy like AD not playing, it’s pretty much impossible to make up what he provides for our ballclub, both offensively and defensively.”</p><p>More than anything else, though — including a brutal two-way D’Angelo Russell showing — the Lakers were doomed by the Warriors’ <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/how-warriors-took-advantage-of-anthony-davis-less-lakers-en-route-to-historic-shooting-night">historically relentless outside shooting</a>. The Warriors converted 26-of-41 (63.4%) from deep — the best 3-point shooting performance in NBA history (min. 40 attempts).</p><p>“They were blazing hot,” said Ham.</p><p>Stephen Curry (6-of-6 from 3) and Klay Thompson (5-of-10) got theirs, but it was the unexpected contributions of Draymond Green (5-of-7), Andrew Wiggins (3-0f-5), and Gary Payton II (2-of-3) that rendered Golden State uncatchable.</p><p>“You go in with a gameplan, and they exploit the gameplan, you tip your cap,” said LeBron. “Definitely messed with our gameplan.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Austin Reaves on Draymond Green hitting five 3s: “At the end of the day, Draymond is as fierce a competitor as you see in the NBA. It really doesn’t surprise me if he does that.” <a href="https://t.co/4GaxcmxhOO">pic.twitter.com/4GaxcmxhOO</a></p><p>— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelcorvo_/status/1777923817752723677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p> </p><p>Tuesday’s result essentially <a href="https://twitter.com/LakersReporter/status/1777915523399033066" rel="noopener">cinched</a> Los Angeles’ spot in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 Play-In matchup. The Warriors (44-35) moved within 0.5 games of the Lakers (45-35) for the ninth seed, and have the easier remaining schedule, one extra game, and the tiebreaker. The Sacramento Kings (45-34) lead the Lakers by one loss for the eighth spot and own the tiebreaker.</p><p>The Lakers will get two days off before finishing their regular season at the Memphis Grizzlies (Friday) and Pelicans (Sunday).</p><p>“It’s a tough loss, for sure,” said Ham. “But we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. … Yeah, it’s a difficult situation, but it’s not impossible.”</p><p>Davis’ availability going forward will be evaluated on Wednesday, per Ham.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers lack ‘energy’ vs. Warriors without Anthony Davis, per Rui Hachimura

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/does-darvin-ham-regret-not-immediately-starting-rui-hachimura');   ga('set', 'title', 'Does Darvin Ham regret not immediately starting Rui Hachimura?');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lakers-news-does-darvin-ham-regret-not-immediately-starting-rui-hachimura.jpg"></figure><h1>Does Darvin Ham regret not immediately starting Rui Hachimura?</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-03-28T05:40:36-07:00">March 28th, 5:40am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-03-28T05:40:36-07:00">March 28th, 5:40am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers have been on a bit of a roll as of late, as they picked up their <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-delivers-powerful-message-grizzlies-rookie-gg-jackson">fifth straight win</a> on Wednesday night with a 136-124 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. While there have been a lot of things working for the team, head coach Darvin Ham’s decision to stick Rui Hachimura in the starting lineup appears to be the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-rui-hachimura-memphiz-grizzlies-los-angeles-lebron-james">main catalyst</a> for this run.</p><p>Ever since making Hachimura a full-time starter back on February 3rd, the Lakers have gone 16-7, and they have received some stellar play from the talented wing during that stretch (15.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1 APG, 58.4 FG%, 45.3 3P%). With Hachimura and the rest of the Lakers balling out as a result of this decision, it’s fair to wonder if Ham <a href="https://twitter.com/jovanbuha/status/1773192640231625175" rel="noopener">regrets</a> turning to him as late as he did, but the second-year coach didn’t see it that way, saying that the lineup conundrum figured itself out when it was supposed to.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Darvin Ham was asked if he wishes he went to this current starting lineup of Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell earlier in the season given Rui's success as a starter.</p><p>Here's his response: <a href="https://t.co/zLQqfaddhq">pic.twitter.com/zLQqfaddhq</a></p><p>— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) <a href="https://twitter.com/jovanbuha/status/1773192640231625175?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Darvin Ham’s big Rui Hachimura decision paying dividends for Lakers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Rui_Hachimura_and_Austin_Reaves.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>We all saw what Hachimura was capable of during the Lakers playoff run last season, but when the 2023-24 campaign kicked off, Ham decided to keep bringing him off the bench, instead using Taurean Prince as the fifth starter. However, Ham needed a spark, and he turned to their best scorer off the bench in search of a way to help this team win.</p><p>Sure enough, the results have been great. Not only has Hachimura taken a step forward with his play, but the rest of LA’s starters all seem to have responded positively to the move. With the starting lineup finally being sorted out, Ham can figure out the rest of his rotation just in time for the playoffs.</p><p>Even with all of this winning, the Lakers still sit in ninth place in the Western Conference, meaning that they would be forced to participate in the Play-In Tournament in an effort just to make it to the playoffs. They are within striking distance of the team’s ahead of them, though, as they sit 2.5 games behind the six seed Dallas Mavericks as they try to avoid the Play-In Tournament. However, with only nine regular season games left, the chances of that happening are slim.</p><p>This isn’t unfamiliar territory for Los Angeles, though, as they escaped the play-in last year and managed to make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they bowed out against the eventual champions in the Denver Nuggets. The team would obviously rather just earn a playoff spot, but being in the play-in is better than not being in it at all.</p><p>Assuming the Lakers can keep up the positive momentum with this new look lineup, no one is going to want to face them in the postseason. And while LeBron James and Anthony Davis will get most of the attention for leading this squad, Ham’s decision to insert Hachimura into the starting lineup could end up being the difference between another deep playoff run, and crashing out earlier than expected.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Does Darvin Ham regret not immediately starting Rui Hachimura?

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-rui-hachimura-memphiz-grizzlies-los-angeles-lebron-james');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rui Hachimura continues ownership of Memphis in Lakers win vs. Grizzlies');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/rui-hachimura-lakers.jpeg"></figure><h1>Rui Hachimura continues ownership of Memphis in Lakers win vs. Grizzlies</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-03-27T22:04:36-07:00">March 27th, 10:04pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-03-27T22:10:49-07:00">March 27th, 10:10pm</time><address><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/author/michaelc/">Michael Corvo</a>Michael Corvo has been the Lakers beat reporter for ClutchPoints since 2021. He also covers golf and movies. One day, he hopes to see the New York Jets win another playoff game. Inspirations: Paul Giamatti, Shane Falco, Phife Dawg.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Less than 24 hours after a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-los-angeles-anthony-davis-milwaukee-bucks-austin-reaves-dangelo-russell-lebron-james-giannis-antetokounmpo">double-overtime comeback,</a> and without the help of Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers needed LeBron James and Rui Hachimura to carry the load on Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.</p><p>After all, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-anthony-davis-health-injury-los-angeles">LeBron sat out</a> in Milwaukee, while Hachimura was relatively quiet compared to AD, D’Angelo Russell, and Austin Reaves.</p><p>Fortunately, LeBron is LeBron. And Rui was in Memphis.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">LeBron and Rui lead the way as the <a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Lakers</a> win their 5th-straight game 🙌</p><p>Rui: 32 PTS, 11-14 FGM, 7 3PM (career high), 10 REB<br>LeBron: 23 PTS, 14 REB, 12 AST <a href="https://t.co/EX1CrtMYoY">pic.twitter.com/EX1CrtMYoY</a></p><p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1773187260789223457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p> </p><p>Both forwards delivered against the short-handed Grizzlies group, as the Lakers (41-32) rolled to a 136-124 win. LeBron cruised to his fourth triple-double of his 21st season (111th of his career): 24 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists in 35 minutes.</p><p>“It was good to be out there with them and be able to do a lot of things tonight to help us win,” said LeBron.</p><p>“A lot of energy was used last night. To come back in overtime, for the guys that played last night heavy minutes … for them to come back with the energy and give as much as they had, whatever was left in the tank, was great for us tonight. We needed that.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Another angle of LeBron James' HUGE dunk on Scottie Pippen Jr. ✈<a href="https://t.co/FAtOPV8P3i">pic.twitter.com/FAtOPV8P3i</a> <a href="https://t.co/IvLyiZTtu1">https://t.co/IvLyiZTtu1</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1773147855525450142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p> </p><p>Hachimura messed around and had a career night. In 36 minutes, Rui scored a season-high 32 points, drained a career-high seven triples (on eight attempts), grabbed 10 rebounds, and posted a +35.</p><p>“It was a great team win,” Hachimura said. “Bron was out last night. AD was out tonight. But I think we played together and we trust each other.”</p><p>It was Hachimura’s loudest performance since <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/im-him-lakers-austin-reaves-shows-hes-got-that-dog-in-him-taunting-grizzlies-with-game-1-win" rel="noopener">Game 1</a> of the 2023 playoffs, also at the FedExForum. That night, Hachimura <i>also</i> made 11 of his 14 field-goal attempts, helping kick off the Lakers’ surprise run to the conference finals. (Austin Reaves <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelcorvo_/status/1773026865386570001" rel="noopener">leveled up</a> that game, too.)</p><p>On Wednesday, LeBron credited Rui’s 3-point shooting for stretching reigning Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. out of the paint.</p><p>“He knows where his shots is coming from,” said LeBron. “I think he feels that, we as his teammates, we look for him…</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/AJsHoopHype/status/1773190495398777329">According to Wikipedia</a>, Hachimura, in fact, owns the city of Memphis.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I'm not gonna lie, I'm not really a big fan of the city" 🤣</p><p>Rui Hachimura continues to own the city of Memphis <a href="https://t.co/6ypQ9UQEk6">https://t.co/6ypQ9UQEk6</a></p><p>— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelcorvo_/status/1773183380118528197?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Hachimura has given the Lakers a recent boost with his energy, movement, and activity level. He’s grabbed 24 rebounds over the first two games of their pivotal six-game East Coast road trip.</p><p>“That’s what I’ve been focused on,” Hachimura said. “It’s just touching the ball, that’s gonna help me. It’s gonna help my rhythm.”</p><p>“I’ve been on him all year about rebounding more, being active on the glass, being an active defender, and not leaking out,” said Darvin Ham. “He’s heard us loud and clear.”</p><p>“…Me and him, we can switch some things and still be able to clean glass. It’s been very key for our success since he got here,” added LeBron.</p><p>The Lakers are 20-10 this season with Hachimura as a starter. Since being re-cemented into the lineup on Feb. 3, Hachimura has averaged 15.0 points on 57.3% shooting (entering Wednesday).</p><p>“Clarity always helps performance,” said Ham. “Us inserting him into the starting lineup, it gives him a chance where the defense is not just focused on him. Him coming off the bench, there was times when they treated him like Bron.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="qme">😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 <a href="https://t.co/fGYSGWWmW9">pic.twitter.com/fGYSGWWmW9</a></p><p>— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1773178368373989808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Seven players scored in double-figures in Memphis. D’Angelo Russell chimed in with 23 points, Austin Reaves had another double-double (13 points, 11 assists), while Jaxson Hayes and Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 14 points each. The Lakers shot 55.6% from the field, 54.5% from 3-point range, and 80% from the free-throw line.</p><p>In general, the Lakers (41-32) are starting to look more and more like the team that played June last year. They’ve won five games in a row and sit nine games over .500 for the first time. For the second consecutive March, they’re rounding into form at the perfect time.</p><p>“I had all the flashbacks from last year,” said Hachimura. “We have a pretty good memory of here.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rui Hachimura continues ownership of Memphis in Lakers win vs. Grizzlies

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-metta-world-peace-sounds-off-rui-hachimuras-all-star-potential-big-game-nuggets');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers: Metta World Peace sounds off on Rui Hachimura’s All-Star potential amid big game vs. Nuggets');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Metta_World_Peace_sounds_off_on_Rui_Hachimura_s_All-Star_potential_amid_big_game_vs._Nuggets.webp"></figure><h1>Lakers: Metta World Peace sounds off on Rui Hachimura’s All-Star potential amid big game vs. Nuggets</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-03-03T11:15:44-08:00">March 3rd, 11:15am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-03-03T11:15:44-08:00">March 3rd, 11:15am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers saw the night LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-becomes-first-nba-player-to-score-40000-points" rel="noopener">40,000 career points</a> end on a sour note thanks to a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-jamal-murray-epic-mindset-defeating-lakers-despite-lebron-james-40000-point-achievement" rel="noopener">124-114 loss</a> at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, but it wasn’t all bad for them. While they didn’t play great on defense, they had a strong night offensively, with Rui Hachimura’s contributions catching the eye of Metta World Peace.</p><p>Hachimura has solidified his role with Los Angeles after his strong postseason with them last year, and he was knocking down a ton of shots against Denver (23 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 10/15 FGM). While he hasn’t always played at this high of a level this year, World Peace believes that Hachimura could end up <a href="https://twitter.com/MettaWorld37/status/1764126865114136894" rel="noopener">being an All-Star</a> in the future after watching him light up the Nuggets on Saturday night.</p><p>Via Metta World Peace:</p><p>“Rui can be an All-Star.”</p><h2><b>Could Rui Hachimura eventually become an All-Star for the Lakers?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Untitled-1.webp"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>There’s no doubt that when Hachimura is on, he can be a lethal scorer for Los Angeles. The problem for him has been consistency, whether it be making his shots, or finding shots in the Lakers crowded offense. Hachimura is shooting a career-high 51.8 percent from the field this season, but he’s taking just 9,2 shots per game, so it’s safe to say that LA would probably benefit from getting him more looks.</p><p>Chances are it would take a move to a new team where he isn’t in the shadow of James and Anthony Davis in order for him to become an All-Star. Still, it’s clear he has the talent to make that leap, and the Lakers could surely use more from their supporting cast. It may be a bit of a stretch from World Peace, but if Hachimura can put all the pieces of the puzzle together, he could end up making this prediction come true.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers: Metta World Peace sounds off on Rui Hachimura’s All-Star potential amid big game vs. Nuggets

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-austin-reaves-how-nuggets-spoiled-lebron-james-40k-night');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves vocal on how Nuggets spoiled LeBron James’ 40K night');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Lakers_news_Rui_Hachimura_Austin_Reaves_vocal_on_how_Nuggets_spoiled_LeBron_James__40K_night.webp"></figure><h1>Lakers Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves vocal on how Nuggets spoiled LeBron James’ 40K night</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-03-02T21:40:22-08:00">March 2nd, 9:40pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-03-02T21:40:22-08:00">March 2nd, 9:40pm</time><address><a>Peter Sampson</a>Peter Sampson has been covering all things sports (with a focus on the Portland Trail Blazers) for more than a decade, most recently hosting "The Pulse with Peter Sampson" in Afternoon Drive for 750 The Game. Prior to that, he hosted an NBA wrap-up show that aired immediately at the conclusion of every Trail Blazers game. Peter had previous stops at Blazer's Edge and XRAY.FM - where his show "Blazer's Edge Radio" was named "Portland's Best Sports Radio" in the 2017 Willamette Week reader's poll. When he's not telling the stories of your favorite sports team, Peter can be found recording the next garage rock classic in his basement studio, whipping up an authentic Italian meal in the kitchen, or trying to figure out the appeal of Minecraft with his 9-year-old son in the living room.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James became the NBA’s first<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-becomes-first-nba-player-to-score-40000-points" rel="noopener"> 40,000-point scorer</a> on Saturday night in a 124-114 loss to the Denver Nuggets.</p><p>After the game, LeBron’s Lakers teammates<a href="https://x.com/LakersNation/status/1764141294207840434?s=20" rel="noopener"> were disappointed</a> that they allowed a game that was tied headed into the fourth quarter slip away, per Lakers Nation:</p><p>“Rui Hachimura on another loss to the Nuggets: ‘We’re always there, but those last two or three minutes, we let them score, whatever they want to do… We tried a lot of different defenses on them, but they’re a really good team. Everybody can score, they play for each other.'”</p><p>Lakers guard Austin Reaves also <a href="https://x.com/LakersNation/status/1764140129369907366?s=20" rel="noopener">weighed in</a>, per Lakers Nation:</p><p>“Austin Reaves: ‘To beat them, you have to be good in the fourth quarter… At the end of the day, no one is gonna feel sorry for us. We have to figure it out.'”</p><p>While it was certainly a disappointing outcome for the Lakers on such a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-nba-players-react-to-lebron-james-remarkable-40k-points-record" rel="noopener">big night</a>, the team has been playing better of late. The once-struggling team is 9-4 in their last 13 games, righting the ship despite standing deciding not to make a move at the trade deadline. All but guaranteed at least a berth in the play-in tournament, 10th-place Los Angeles was three games back of the Phoenix Suns for sixth place in the NBA Western Conference standings.</p><p>While LeBron receives his well-deserved accolades, the Lakers will need to make sure that the loss doesn’t set the team back. They next face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves vocal on how Nuggets spoiled LeBron James’ 40K night

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-lebron-james-goes-wild-after-lil-bro-rui-hachimura-erupts-in-jazz-destruction');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ LeBron James goes wild after ‘lil bro’ Rui Hachimura erupts in Jazz destruction');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Lakers-LeBron-James-goes-wild-after-lil-bro-Rui-Hachimura-erupts-in-Jazz-destruction.webp"></figure><h1>Lakers’ LeBron James goes wild after ‘lil bro’ Rui Hachimura erupts in Jazz destruction</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-14T22:41:38-08:00">February 14th, 10:41pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-14T22:41:38-08:00">February 14th, 10:41pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers have noticeably played at a much better level upon Rui Hachimura’s <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-darvin-ham-starting-5-plan-rui-hachimura-win-knicks" rel="noopener">re-insertion into the starting five</a>. On Wednesday night, with the Lakers slated to face the Utah Jazz sans LeBron James, who is getting a headstart on his All-Star break, Hachimura had a golden opportunity to cement himself as an even bigger game-changer for the Purple and Gold. That is exactly what he did.</p><p>In a 138-122 victory over the Jazz, Hachimura took advantage of the opportunity he had in front of him and dropped a career-high 36 points on an elite 13-19 shooting performance. With James out, the onus fell on Anthony Davis to lead the way, but Davis ended up receiving plenty of contributions from his teammates, none bigger than the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-anthony-davis-rui-hachimura-duplicate-kobe-bryant-shaquille-oneal-feat-vs-jazz" rel="noopener">effort Hachimura put in</a> in what is the best game of his career to this point.</p><p>LeBron James, being the ultimate hype man that he is when he’s abounding with joy, immediately became Rui Hachimura’s <a href="https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1757980004833521811" rel="noopener">biggest fan</a> after a superstar-level performance to help fill the void left by his absence in, most importantly, a game that ended up being a victory for the Lakers.</p><p>“Lil bro going CRAZY tonight!!!!! YEEEAAAHHHH RUUUUUU🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️,” James wrote on his official Twitter (X) account.</p><p>The past two games before his explosion against the Jazz was already portending a very bright imminent future for Rui Hachimura. He has been getting into a very healthy rhythm, and the Lakers playmakers have been actively seeking him out as a scoring option. In wins against the New Orleans Pelicans and Detroit Pistons, Hachimura averaged 18 points and 11.5 shot attempts, showing that he’s becoming more comfortable in his current role.</p><p>To those who have been watching the Lakers religiously, seeing Hachimura explode in the manner he did against the Jazz is simply the culmination of the progression the 26-year old forward has been making as he cements a prominent role in Darvin Ham’s rotation. Fans have been calling on Ham to give Hachimura more minutes than Taurean Prince, and Hachimura has delivered on more than one occasion now.</p><p>Just like last season, the Lakers appear to be righting the ship just in time for a playoff push. This time, however, one of the solutions to their problem was always sitting there, waiting to be found.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ LeBron James goes wild after ‘lil bro’ Rui Hachimura erupts in Jazz destruction

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-lebron-james-rui-hachimura-los-angeles-all-star-dangelo-russell-anthony-davis');   ga('set', 'title', 'LeBron James-less Lakers bag ‘quality of life’ win before All-Star break behind Rui Hachimura ?');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/anthony-davis-lakers-rui-hachimura-dangelo-russell.webp"></figure><h1>LeBron James-less Lakers bag ‘quality of life’ win before All-Star break behind Rui Hachimura ?</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-14T22:30:04-08:00">February 14th, 10:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-14T22:30:04-08:00">February 14th, 10:30pm</time><address><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/author/michaelc/">Michael Corvo</a>Michael covers the Lakers, golf and movies. "The Paul Giamatti of Shane Falcos," some say.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While LeBron James chilled, the Los Angeles Lakers enjoyed a reaffirming road win over the Utah Jazz, 138-122, to hit the All-Star break in high spirits. Led by Anthony Davis (37 points) and Rui Hachimura (career-high 33 points), the Lakers punctuated their eventful first chunk of the season on a high note, after all.</p><p>The Lakers (30-26) have won six of seven. Their once-middling offense has sprung to life, evidenced by yet <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-anthony-davis-defensive-player-of-the-year-los-angeles">another</a> game with 30+ assists, efficient shooting, and a low turnover count.</p><p>“We’re just playing the right way, sharing the basketball, playing together,” said AD. “We’re just in a great groove. We’re having fun. … It’s fun to watch from the side, and also fun to be a part of.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Anthony Davis (37 PTS) and Rui Hachimura (career-high 36 PTS) are the first Lakers duo to record 35+ points each in a game, since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal!</p><p>Lakers win their 3rd in a row 📈 <a href="https://t.co/rVIxhnZ8XJ">pic.twitter.com/rVIxhnZ8XJ</a></p><p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1757991108326388124?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Lakers aced a sneakily tough test. On the second leg of a back-to-back, the Lakers arrived in Salt Lake City in the wee hours of the morning. LeBron James <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-all-star-break-utah-jazz-los-angeles">announced</a> after last night he would sit out. Instead, they took care of business.</p><p>“It’s kind of one of those trap games, right before All-Star and you’re on the road, you get in late, you can easily fold,” stressed AD. “As coach Ham said, this is a good ‘quality of life’ win.”</p><p>D’Angelo Russell dished out a career-high 17 dimes. Austin Reaves had 22 points and seven assists. Spencer Dinwiddie (10 points, four assists) was impactful off the bench. The Lakers shot 45.2% from 3 thanks to a bevy of open looks.</p><p>Hachimura, in particular, has loudly responded to the challenge the Lakers issued after a zombie-like <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelcorvoNBA/status/1755830984761876803">outing</a> against the Denver Nuggets. In the three games since, Hachimura has posted 21, 15, and 36 points on 56.1% shooting. Hachimura shot 13-of-19 at the Delta Center, drilled a career-high six 3s, and posted a team-best +25. (LeBron was <a href="https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1757980004833521811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1757980004833521811%7Ctwgr%5E5eee6fb4c1b4e972d1b8a7e731e1e0c86dd37968%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.clutchpoints.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D2694006action%3Dedit">amped</a>.)</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">RUI HACHIMURA IS COOKING 🔥</p><p>He’s got a career-high 33 points! </p><p> <a href="https://t.co/MEOwuvB84D">pic.twitter.com/MEOwuvB84D</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1757980736404000853?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“The team’s the coaches, they tried to engage me more in offense,” said Hachimura.</p><p>“(He can be) extremely dangerous,” said Ham. “He very rarely has two bad games in a row. I just told him before that New Orleans game … after losing to Denver: I need you to come out and play like a wild man.</p><p>“He’s in a good space. He’s having fun with his teammates. Having fun playing the game. And he heard us loud and clear with us encouraging him. we need Rui to be great in order for us to be great.”</p><p>“I want to be the X-factor on the team,” said Hui.</p><p>After four months of basketball largely defined by inconsistency (with a championship mixed in), the Lakers finally, maybe, have found clarity.</p><p>“I’ve been telling ’em, like, this is who we are,” said Hachimura. “We’ve been trying like a lot of different things, lineups and all this stuff. But this is the lineup we had in the playoffs, and that’s how we won. So, you know, it’s that simple.”</p><p>So the Lakers might <i>feel </i>good about the state of their team as they hit the 10-day hiatus. The question is, can they keep the good times rolling?</p><p>“It’s game whatever and we gotta have our identity. And we’re starting to establish that,” said Anthony Davis. “This is who we are. And we got to make sure that how we’re playing as of late … keeping that identity and carrying it over to post-All-Star.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

LeBron James-less Lakers bag ‘quality of life’ win before All-Star break behind Rui Hachimura ?

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-anthony-davis-rui-hachimura-duplicate-kobe-bryant-shaquille-oneal-feat-vs-jazz');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers: Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura duplicate Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal feat vs Jazz');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Lakers-Anthony-Davis-Rui-Hachimura-duplicate-Kobe-Bryant-Shaquille-ONeal-feat-vs-Jazz.webp"></figure><h1>Lakers: Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura duplicate Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal feat vs Jazz</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-14T22:03:24-08:00">February 14th, 10:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-14T22:03:24-08:00">February 14th, 10:03pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Wednesday night, LeBron James decided to sit out the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Utah Jazz. This game was the second of a back-to-back set, it was on Valentine’s Day, and it was the Lakers’ final game before the All-Star break, so <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-all-star-break-utah-jazz-los-angeles" rel="noopener">James got a headstart</a> on his mini-vacation. James’ absence opened up a huge opportunity for Rui Hachimura to support Anthony Davis, and boy, did Hachimura deliver in a major way.</p><p>Davis, as expected, became the Lakers’ primary source of offense with James out. The nine-time All-Star poured in 37 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Purple and Gold in scoring in a 138-122 victory over the Jazz. But in an epic turn of events, Hachimura nearly matched AD stride for stride, with the 26-year old dropping a career-high 36 points on 13-19 shooting from the field.</p><p>The joint elite scoring efforts from Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura <a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1757982522418585626" rel="noopener">marked a historic occasion</a> in Lakers franchise history. According to the team’s official Twitter (X) account, Davis and Hachimura became the first pair in franchise history to both score 35 points or more in the same game since the legendary duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal did so in 2003.</p><p>It’s hard to fathom that the last time a pair of Lakers scored 35+ in the same game happened way back on April 13, 2003, when Bryant and O’Neal each scored 36 points in a two-point loss against the Portland Trail Blazers, but that is indeed the reality.</p><p>When thinking about teammates who could have done it since, one would think that Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were able to replicate the feat, and, in recent times, LeBron James would be able to do it alongside Anthony Davis. But for Rui Hachimura, who didn’t start for the Lakers until recently, to be the part of the duo that breaks the 35-point duo drought is nothing short of phenomenal.</p><p>The Lakers appear to have found a new lease in life after <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-darvin-ham-starting-5-plan-rui-hachimura-win-knicks" rel="noopener">elevating Hachimura</a> into the starting lineup, and now, they are inching their way atop the standings just in time for the stretch run as they head into the final 26 games of the regular season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
13.6	4.3	1.2	0.4	0.6

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
13.6	4.3	1.2	0.4	0.6

Rui Hachimura news

Rui
Hachimura news