Lakers look for spacing in coach Ham's offense
In Darvin Ham's “positionless” offensive scheme, theoretically anyone can take an open 3-point shot.
In a Saturday morning scrimmage at the Pechanga reservation, Damian Jones — nominally a Lakers center — found himself open in the corner and fired. He was off-target, forcing his purple squad to run back on defense. But one miss isn't going to dissuade him from taking a look now and then.
“I'm comfortable shooting there,” Jones said after practice. “I've been getting a lot of reps in. Throughout the years, my percentages have been getting better as I'm shooting them. So, it's good.”
With their roster and desire for as much floor spacing as possible, the Lakers are going to need to find some shooting in unexpected places. Ham wants many Lakers possessions to feature one player by the baseline (the “dunker” spot) and four others standing behind the 3-point line.
Ham recently acknowledged that he has been working a lot with a group of Jones, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and Kendrick Nunn. While Nunn shot better than 38% from deep in his last healthy season, the overall shooting figures don't seem to bode well for a team that found defenses sinking in and clogging up the paint — all but daring them to fire away from long range (they were 22nd on 3-point percentage last season at 34.7%).
But naturally there's a lot of optimism in camp that the Lakers might be able to surprise some people. Jones went just 10 for 29 on threes last season, but Ham said based on what he's seen from the 27-yearold center in practice and drills, he's “more than capable” of sinking 3s to keep defenses honest.
He cracked a joke at one of his former player's expense: “No disrespect to Robin, but if I have Robin Lopez making threes, I'm sure I can make Damian Jones make 3s.”
Of course, Jones' chief role will be rolling to the basket, or manning the dunker spot to keep defenses attuned to his lob threat (he was 16 for 17 from the field in his previous 10-day Lakers stint in 2021). But that begs other questions: Is Anthony Davis (18% on threes last season) or Russell Westbrook (29.8%) convincing enough as outside shooters to create space inside?
Ham suggested it's not so one-dimensional. Another component of his offense is the speed threat of James and Westbrook, who both were gunning at top speed off defensive rebounds Saturday morning. In addition to the four-out, one-in spacing of halfcourt possessions, Ham will be counting on his ball handlers to get defenses spinning and backpedaling and create seams or shots elsewhere.
“Those guys are still two of the most elite athletes in our league who can both handle the ball at a high level and attack the paint and the rim at a high level,” Ham said. “So that's the reason for the fourout, one-in, just to keep that spacing open. And if they see different gaps they want to attack, they have the freedom to do that.”
Aside from the 200odd people from the reservation watching Saturday morning, the public's first peek at the Lakers' progress will come Monday at home against the Sacramento Kings. Ham said he wants the Big Three to play “if possible” but will finalize that Sunday. The Lakers got full participation from Lonnie Walker IV, who has been limited in the past week with an ankle injury. Troy Brown Jr. remained limited with a back injury, and the team is still waiting for Dennis Schröder's visa from Germany to be approved with hopes he'll arrive in the coming week.
PGA - SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP
At Country Club of Jackson Jackson, Miss.
Purse: $7.9 million Yardage: 7,461;
Third round
72
Mark Hubbard ............. 67-69-65—201 -15 Mackenzie Hughes ..... 71-63-68—202 -14 Garrick Higgo ............... 70-66-68—204 -12 Scott Stallings ............. 69-67-68—204 -12 Sepp Straka .................. 69-66-69—204 -12 Keegan Bradley ........... 70-71-64—205 -11 Nick Hardy .................... 70-67-68—205 -11 Dean Burmester .......... 70-68-68—206 -10 Emiliano Grillo ............. 73-65-68—206 -10 Seonghyeon Kim ......... 68-72-66—206 -10 Joel Dahmen ................... 71-68-68—207 -9 Cody Gribble .................. 73-67-67—207 -9 Taylor Montgomery ...... 72-68-67—207 -9 Davis Riley ....................... 66-71-70—207 -9 Ryan Armour .................. 71-68-69—208 -8 C. Bezuidenhout ............ 67-72-69—208 -8 Thomas Detry ................. 67-67-74—208 -8 Dylan Frittelli ................. 71-69-68—208 -8 William McGirt .............. 71-68-69—208 -8 Henrik Norlander .......... 71-69-68—208 -8 Andrew Putnam ............ 67-72-69—208 -8 Callum Tarren ............... 72-68-68—208 -8 Nick Taylor ..................... 68-70-70—208 -8 Kevin Yu .......................... 67-73-68—208 -8
LPGA - THE ASCENDANT LPGA
At Old American Golf Club The Colony, Texas
Purse:
Yardage:
Third round
Charley Hull .................. 67-64-71—202 -11 Xiyu Lin ......................... 65-68-69—202 -11 Celine Boutier .............. 68-69-66—203 -10 Lydia Ko ........................ 70-66-67—203 -10 Maddie Szeryk ............... 67-70-67—204 -9 Moriya Jutanugarn ....... 67-68-70—205 -8 So Yeon Ryu .................. 69-68-68—205 -8 Atthaya Thitikul ............ 66-67-72—205 -8 Lindy Duncan ................. 69-65-72—206 -7 A Lim Kim ........................ 71-68-67—206 -7 Pornanong Phatlum ...... 71-68-67—206 -7 Lexi Thompson .............. 67-70-69—206 -7 Na Rin An ........................ 71-67-69—207 -6 Emily Pedersen .............. 68-67-72—207 -6 Madelene Sagstrom ..... 69-68-70—207 -6 Lizette Salas .................. 66-72-69—207 -6
Also
Par:
$1.7 million
6,517;
Par:
71
Brooke Henderson ........ 76-66-69—211 -2 Jessica Korda ................. 69-66-76—211 -2 Jennifer Kupcho ............. 71-70-70—211 -2
DP WORLD - ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP
St. Andrews, United Kingdom
a-Old Course (host course) b-Carnoustie Golf Links c-Kingsbarns Golf Links
NASCAR CUP SERIESYELLAWOOD 500 LINEUP
Today at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Lap length:
2.66 miles (Car number in parentheses)
1. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 180.591 mph. 2. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 180.516. 3. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 180.421. 4. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 180.115. 5. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 179.770. 6. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 179.595. 7. (48) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 179.474. 8. (8) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 179.366. 9. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 179.212. 10. (23) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, .000.
11. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 179.252. 12. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 179.235. 13. (16) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 179.215.
14. (99) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 179.148. 15. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford, 179.128. 16. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 179.121. 17. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 179.108. 18. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 179.098. 19. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 179.088. 20. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 179.014.
21. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 178.991.
22. (19) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 178.977.
23. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 178.820. 24. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 178.757. 25. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 178.627.
26. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 178.430. 27. (45) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 178.390. 28. (41) Cole Custer, Ford, 178.294. 29. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 178.112. 30. (42)
Purse:
Third round
Also
$5 million
Richard Mansell ... 66c-68a-67b—201 -15 Ryan Fox ................. 66a-74b-65c—205 -11 Daniel Gavins ......... 65a-73b-67c—205 -11 Alex Noren ............. 67b-69c-69a—205 -11 N. Norgaard Moller ..63c-74a-69b—206 -10 Antoine Rozner ...... 63a-74b-69c—206 -10
Padraig Harrington...69b-71c-69a—209 -7 Billy Horschel ........... 71b-71c-67a—209 -7 Rory McIlroy ........... 68b-75c-66a—209 -7 Louis Oosthuizen .... 72b-73c-65a—210 -6 Peter Uihlein ........... 65a-77b-68c—210 -6
WESTERN CONFERENCE
x-LAFC x-Austin FC x-Dallas Nashville x-Galaxy Portland Minnesota Salt Lake Vancouver Colorado Seattle Kansas City San Jose Houston
L
T Pts GF GA
20 8 4 16 10 7 13 9 11 12 9 11 13 12 8 11 8 13 13 14 6 11 11 11 12 14 7 11 13 9 12 16 4 10 15 7 8 15 10 9 17 6 64 55 50 47 47 46 45 44 43 42 40 37 34 33
EASTERN CONFERENCE
x-Philadelphia 18 5 10 x-CF Montréal 19 9 5 x-N.Y. Red Bulls 14 11 8 x-NYCFC 14 11 7 Cincinnati 11 9 13 Orlando City 13 12 6 Inter Miami 13 13 6 Columbus 10 7 15 Charlotte FC 13 17 2 New England 10 12 11 Atlanta 10 13 10 Chicago 10 15 8 Toronto 9 17 7 D.C. United 7 20 6 x-clinched playoff spot
Friday's result
W
W
Miami 1, Toronto FC 0
Saturday's results
L
64 36 64 48 46 36 50 39 55 50 51 48 46 51 40 44 40 55 45 56 45 43 40 52 50 67 40 52
T Pts GF GA
64 62 50 49 46 45 45 45 41 41 40 38 34 27
New England 2, Atlanta 1 Colorado 1, FC Dallas 0 Charlotte FC 4, Philadelphia 0 Chicago 3, Cincinnati 2 Columbus 2, New York 1 CF Montréal 1, D.C. United 0 San Jose 2, Minnesota 0 Vancouver 2, Austin FC 0 Galaxy 1, Real Salt Lake 1 68 26 60 49 48 41 53 39 59 54 40 46 42 52 43 37 42 48 46 49 47 52 38 47 49 62 34 66
Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 178.055.
31. (62) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 177.788. 32. (7) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, 177.159. 33. (77) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 177.051. 34. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 177.012. 35. (78) BJ McLeod, Ford, 174.936. 36. (15) JJ Yeley, Ford, 174.312.
37. (51) Cody Ware, Ford, 174.299.
F1-SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX LINEUP
At Marina Bay Street Circuit
Singapore City, Singapore.
Lap length:
5.06 kilometers
Third session
1. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, 1 minute, 49.412 seconds. 2. Sergio Perez, Mexico, 1:49.434. 3. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, 1:49.466. 4. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, 1:49.583. 5. Fernando Alonso, Spain, 1:49.966. 6. Lando Norris, Great Britain, 1:50.584. 7. Pierre Gasly, France, 1:51.211. 8. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, 1:51.395. 9. Kevin Magnussen, Denmark, 1:51.573. 10. Yuki Tsunoda, Japan, 1:51.983.
NASCAR GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK-CHEVY SILVERADO 250
At Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Lap length:
2.66 miles (Top 10; start position in parentheses) 1. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet,
SCOREBOARD
Saturday's results
Memphis 106, Milwaukee 102 Washington at Warriors, late
Today's games
Charlotte at Boston, 10 a.m.
Utah at Toronto, 3 p.m.
San Antonio at Houston, 4 p.m. Adelaide 36ers at Phoenix, 7 p.m.
Monday's games
Philadelphia at Brooklyn, 4:30 p.m. Orlando at Memphis, 5 p.m. Oklahoma City at Denver, 6 p.m. Portland at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m. Sacramento at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday's games
Detroit at New York, 4 p.m. Minnesota at Miami, 4:30 p.m. New Orleans at Chicago, 6:30 p.m. Utah at Portland, 7 p.m.
SCOREBOARD
Saturday's results
Boston 4, Philadelphia 0 Buffalo 3, Pittsburgh 1 Carolina 4, Florida 3
Dallas 5, St. Louis 2 Columbus 2, Washington 1 Ottawa 5, Montreal 4, OT Detroit 3, Chicago 0 Edmonton 3, Winnipeg 2, SO Seattle 4, Vancouver 0
Today's games
Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Minnesota vs. Chicago at Fiserv Forum, 4:30 p.m.
Ducks at Kings, 6 p.m.
Monday's games
Nashville vs. SC Bern at PostFinance Arena, 11 a.m.
Boston at New Jersey, 4p.m. Columbus at Carolina, 4 p.m. Toronto at Montreal, 4 p.m. Pittsburgh at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Colorado at Dallas, 5 p.m.
Seattle at Calgary, 6 p.m.
Vancouver at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
Tuesday's games
San Jose vs. Eisbaren Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena, 10:30 a.m. Carolina at Buffalo, 4 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Ottawa at Montreal, 4 p.m. Minnesota at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Arizona at Vegas, 7 p.m.
Kings at Ducks, 7 p.m. 95 laps, 40 points. 2. (15) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 95, 46. 3. (23) Bret Holmes, Chevrolet, 95, 34. 4. (10) Ryan Preece, Ford, 95, 33. 5. (13) Christian Eckes, Toyota, 95, 38. 6. (27) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 95, 31. 7. (26) Chase Purdy, Toyota, 95, 30. 8. (7) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 95, 34. 9. (21) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 95, 28. 10. (20) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 95, 33.
RACE STATISTICS
Average speed of race winner: Time of race:
Margin of victory: Caution flags:
Lead changes:
mph; 40 seconds; Caution;
114.284 2 hours, 12 minutes,
Under 9 for 36 laps; 26 among 11 drivers.
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK
MLB
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Favorite
at Dodgers Philadelphia at Milwaukee at St. Louis at Chi. Cubs at San Francisco N.Y Mets at Angels at Detroit at N.Y Yankees at Toronto at Cleveland at Houston at Seattle
INTERLEAGUE
Chi. White Sox
NFL
Favorite
Chargers Minnesota at Dallas at NY Giants at Detroit at Indianapolis Cleveland at Pittsburgh Buffalo at Philadelphia Arizona at Green Bay at Las Vegas at Tampa Bay
Monday
at San Fran.
Line
-295/+240 -240/+194 off -200/+168 off off -120/+102
AMERICAN LEAGUE
-156/+132 off -210/+176 -180/+152 -215/+180 -170/+144 -260/+215
-112/-104
Line (O/U)
51/2 (441/2) at Houston 3 (411/2) at New Orleans 3 (411/2) Washington 3 (391/2) Chicago 31/2 (471/2) Seattle 31/2 (421/2) Tennessee 11/2 (471/2) at Atlanta 31/2 (411/2) NY Jets 3 (511/2) at Baltimore 61/2 (451/2) Jacksonville 11/2 (431/2) at Carolina 91/2 (391/2) New England 21/2 (451/2) Denver 1 (451/2) Kansas City
11/2 (421/2)
At Arena Armeec Sofia Sofia, Bulgaria
Purse:
Surface:
$534,555
Hardcourt indoor
SINGLES
Semifinals
Marc-Andrea Huesler, Switzerland, def. Lorenzo Musetti (4), Italy, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
DOUBLES
Semifinals
David Vega Hernandez, Spain, and Rafael Matos (2), Brazil, def. Hugo Nys, Monaco, and Jan Zielinski (4), Poland, 7-5, 5-7, 10-5.
WTA-TALLINN OPEN
At Forus Tennis Centre Tallinn, Estonia
Purse:
Surface:
$251,750
Hardcourt indoor
SINGLES
Semifinals
Barbora Krejcikova (7), Czech Republic, def. Belinda Bencic (2), Switzerland, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 6-2. Anett Kontaveit (1), Estonia, def. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia, 6-4, 6-4.
DOUBLES
Semifinals
Underdog
Colorado at Washington
Miami Pittsburgh Cincinnati
Arizona at Atlanta
Texas Minnesota Baltimore
Boston Kansas City Tampa Bay
Oakland
at San Diego
Underdog
Rams
Laura Siegemund, Germany, and Nicole Melichar-Martinez (1), United States, def. Miyu Kato, Japan, and Wang Xinyu (4), China, 6-3, 3-6, 10-1. Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok (3), Ukraine, def. Ulrikke Eikeri, Norway, and Tereza Mihalikova (2), Slovakia, 7-6 (4), 6-1.