With the Lakers making strides but still being thoroughly outplayed by the Clippers in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game, LeBron James took his usual mid-quarter rest at the 5:35 mark, with Christian Wood taking his place. This gave the Lakers two bigs on the floor with Wood and Davis, a combo that has found success during this early part of the season.
Then Ham made a substitution that no one saw coming.
He put Jaxson Hayes in and took out guard Cam Reddish, giving the Lakers a three-big lineup. Normally you might see a Rui Hachimura substitution or even some Gabe Vincent minutes here, but with both players ruled out for this game, Ham went with the next best player available.