The Los Angeles Lakers continue to have a glaring issue that stems back to the 2015-16 NBA season — its lackluster three-point shooting.
Prior to last season, the Los Angeles Lakers had been a bottom-10 three-point shooting team for eight straight years and Tuesday night’s season opener was highly reminiscent of it.
In its 110-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers shot a horrid 5-30 (16.7 percent) from three and failed to have a player make more than one. The starting lineup combined to make four threes in 23 attempts while the bench was not much better, connecting on just one of their seven attempts.
The most efficient three-point shooters from Tuesday night’s win were Anthony Davis (1-3) and rookie Dalton Knecht (1-3), while others like LeBron James (1-4), D’Angelo Russell (1-7) and Auston Reaves (0-5) struggled to find their rhythm.
JJ Redick On Los Angeles Lakers 3-Point Woes
However, Lakers head coach JJ Redick believes that some of the woes were caused by the basketball itself.
“I’m going to send in a request for the league tomorrow that we can play with worn-in basketballs,” Redick told reporters after the game. “I’m not sure why we’re playing in real games with brand new basketballs. Anybody who’s ever touched an NBA ball brand new, it’s a different feel and touch than a worn-in basketball.”
Though new basketballs could have hindered the Lakers’ ability to fall into stride, the Timberwolves were playing with the same ball but managed to drop in 13 threes and nearly doubled the Lakers’ three-point percentage with a 31.7 percent clip from range.
Despite a night to forget from three-point range, the Lakers will look to put their near decade-long troubles behind them and crack the top-10 in three-point percentage for the second straight season. With pieces like Russell, Knecht, Reaves, and Rui Hachimura, the Lakers could be in line to have at least four players shoot 40 percent from deep.
Lucky enough for the Lakers, the off-night didn’t harm the outcome of the game but the efficiency from deep must improve if playing in June remains the goal.