Darvin Ham went back to his roots as a dogged defender to help the Lakers hold off the Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday night.
The Lakers coach was seen reaching his hand out in Jordan Poole’s direction as the Warriors guard missed the game-tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds of Los Angeles’ 117-112 win over Golden State.
The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo was among those who brought attention to the play, tweeting: “Look at Ham.”
Ham was a decent distance from Poole — a second angle shows it more clearly — but still took a step onto the court and in the direction of the guard.
Ham’s defense wasn’t the only curious part of the play.
Some questioned why Poole would attempt the shot from well behind the 3-point line with 10 seconds still left instead of finding a better look.
“Why shoot that deep????? Like fam,” tweeted former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas.
However, the Warriors defended Poole’s decision.
“It was a shot he was open and flowing,” Steph Curry said. “Considering how they guard us on that possession, you know, trapping me at the half court, Draymond (Green) swinging it over to him, it’s kind of an in-rhythm shot.
“I’m sure he felt pretty good about it. That’s why he shot it. There are no kind of regrets about that. It’s just a make-or-miss type situation and a lot of trust in him and his ability to put the ball in the basket.”
Poole had made 6-of-10 3-pointers prior to the attempt and the Lakers double-teamed Curry after he crossed half court to get the ball out of his hands.
Lakers guard Dennis Schroder reeled in the long rebound and made both free throws to seal the crucial victory.
“I thought Jordan did a really good job,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I have the timeout stuff, I saw them double-teaming Steph at half court, so I knew somebody was going to be wide-open if we could just get the ball out, and Steph did a great job. He got the ball out of the trap and Jordan was wide-open, and pretty good look, and you know, that’s a shot he can hit.”
He did not this time, though, and the Lakers now have home-court advantage.
Game 2 is Thursday night in San Francisco.