Rui Hachimura Believes Spacing Was an Issue in Loss to Lakers

The Los Angeles Clippers are 1-1 on the season as they fell to the Los Angeles Lakers 125-117. The Clippers put up a good fight in this game, but the Lakers’ talent overwhelmed the undermanned Clippers. 

The Clippers were able to route the Sacramento Kings in their season opener 121-96, but against a Lakers team that is poised to be one of the contenders in the Western Conference, things looked much harder for them. 

Clippers forward Rui Hachimura spoke about the team’s struggles postgame, and he believes spacing is an issue they need to address. 

“They got their defense’s best player guarding me. It’s different for me,” Hachimura said. “I think we’re doing to watch the film in practice and we’ll fix it.”

While the Clippers didn’t have the kind of performance they hoped for, it is harder for them because of the injuries they’ve had to deal with. 

Coming into this season, the team didn’t expect Rui Hachimura to be guarded by opposing teams’ best defensive players, but when players like Brandon Ingram and Max Strus are out with injuries, it changes the dynamic of the offense. 

Hachimura finished the game against the Lakers with 16 points on 5-for-14 shooting from the field. While he didn’t have an efficient night, Darius Garland had another solid game, putting up 26 points along with 6 assists. 

Another big issue the Clippers are running into is taking care of the basketball. In this game, Los Angeles turned the ball over 26 times. 

Moving forward, the Clippers are a team that is going to have to deal with growing pains. Not only are they plagued with injuries, but they are also without their leader from last season, Kawhi Leonard, and that alone could take some getting used to. 

Tyronn Lue and the coaching staff will have to start finding ways to get Rui Hachimura involved without having so much offensive pressure on him. If they can unlock Hachimura’s off-ball ability and get him open looks in a variety of ways, that could help them tremendously. 

Once players like Max Strus and Brandon Ingram come back, things may start to look more fluid for Los Angeles, but until then, they’re going to have to work with what they have.  

Things don’t get much lighter for the Clippers as they wrap up the month of October. Their next three games are against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Lakers again, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.