D’Angelo Russell praises Darvin Ham after comeback win vs. Bucks

After one of the best wins of the season, D’Angelo Russell made it a point to credit head coach Darvin Ham for his role in the Lakers comeback victory against the Bucks.

For the Lakers to have the comeback win they did on Tuesday, overcoming a 19-point deficit against the Bucks to win in a double-overtime thriller, everyone had to play an important role.

Anthony Davis was his typical dominant self on both ends of the floor while playing a career-high in minutes. Austin Reaves notched a triple-double while hitting the biggest shot of the night. D’Angelo Russell was the catalyst for the comeback, jumpstarting it with his 3-point shooting and Rui Hachimura grabbed a career-high in rebounds.

Everyone played a role in the comeback, but there was one person D’Lo went out of his way to credit postgame: Darvin Ham.

The Lakers' oft-criticized head coach has become a lightning rod of sorts. But Russell wanted to be certain he got his flowers for his role in the win.

“That was huge. Huge win for the team,” Russell said. “Everybody pitched in. Darvin was amazing, man. He drew up some great sets for us at the end of the game and gave us some good looks. I think emotionally, we were all put in on that one. Everybody was two feet in on that game, wanted to do everything it took.”

One of the best examples of the sets Ham drew up on Tuesday was the final play of regulation for the Lakers. After watching the Bucks fail to complete an in-bounds alley-oop tot Giannis, the Lakers used that knowledge against Milwaukee.

Scared of Anthony Davis attempting the same type of play, Giannis and Khris Middleton stuck with him on what appeared to be a final play drawn up for him. Instead, it was a play for Reaves, who sprinted to the 3-point line and got off a clean look that nearly won the game.

There are things Darvin has done wrong this season and deserves criticism for. Spending half the season trying to find the right starting lineup only to land on one of the most obvious solutions is puzzling.

At the same time, he deserves credit for nights like this. His strength has been his ability to connect with the players and motivate and inspire them. That is shown most in comeback wins like Tuesday’s. Keeping the belief that you can come back and not turning the page on the game with another contest on Wednesday is not easy to do but Darvin’s teams have had numerous big comebacks this season.

This does not absolve him of his faults, but if fans are going to be critical of Ham when he gets things wrong, then it’s only fair to praise him on nights like Tuesday when he absolutely gets it right.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.