What to watch in tonight's Lakers vs. Hornets, what this game has at stake for Darvin Ham

With the Lakers head coach Darvin Ham being stubborn on repeating his starting five lineup of the games against the OKC Thunder and the Boston Celtics, a win or loss could shake things up for the head coach regarding his starting players.

If the Lakers get the win, Darvin Ham would feel the victory justifies his new starting five, despite many players and fans not being entirely happy with his moves as D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves are now all sitting on the bench.

If Darvin Ham's mad scientist approach to expelling guards from the Lakers' starting lineup is ever going to work, it's going to happen tonight. CHA ranks 25th in 3p% and 26th in ORtg. LA's super-sized starters should be able to get stops, giving us a feel of what Ham is ideally hoping for on both ends of the floor, particularly after a day of practice to refine their schemes and with CHA missing several key players.

At stake is the continuity of Darvin Ham's lineup or a complete shake-up as the team hasn't been able to be consistent with their starting lineups despite the front office betting on continuity by bringing back the core of last season's roster. But coach Darvin threw that out the window.

The problem with Darvin Ham in the Lakers' locker room

Ham couldn't succeed with Russell Westbrook and now is having problems with how to handle D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and Jarred Vanderbilt. Darvin hasn't given his players the right role, has failed to call timeups when is does, doesn't plan the games right and his lack of on-game adjustments is concerning, plus, rumors of a broken locker room are starting to emerge.