Lakers looking to maintain their pace from start to finish

LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach Darvin Ham had a clear message for his team ahead of Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night: don’t lose the pace in the second half.

Among the common themes in Games 1 and 2 in Denver, which the Nuggets won to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, was the pace of play dropping in the second half of both games – which favored the Nuggets.

Game 1 had a pace (possessions per 48 minutes) of 99 in the first half...