Darvin Ham's Blunt Quote After Lakers-Nuggets Game

On Saturday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers faced off against the Denver Nuggets (in Colorado) for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

The Lakers led by eight points after the first 12 minutes but fell apart in the second half and lost by a score of 114-103.

After the game, head coach Darvin Ham met with the media and shared a straightforward statement (h/t Spectrum SportsNet and Jovan Buha of The Athletic).

Ham: "S**t, it's tough. A Championship team is not gonna beat themselves too often. They may start off a little slow, miss some shots, turn the ball every now and again, but you can't beat yourself. We've gotta step up."

Ham also alluded to the Nuggets grabbing 15 offensive rebounds (the Lakers only got 6).

The Lakers were led by Anthony Davis, who finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocks while shooting 12/23 from the field and 0/4 from the three-point range in 44 minutes of playing time.

LeBron James also had a hot start to the game and finished with 27 points, six rebounds, eight assists, one steal and one block while shooting 10/16 from the field and 3/5 from the three-point range in 41 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets had an excellent game and all five starters scored in double-digits (Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 12 rebounds).

They have also beat the Lakers in each of their last nine matchups.

Game 2 of the series will be on Monday evening (also in Denver).