LeBron & JJ Redick Send Clear Message on Lakers’ Ice-Cold 3PT Shooting

Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are winning games, but they’re doing it in spite of some of the worst perimeter shooting in the league.

After their victory over the Utah Jazz pushed them to a 12-4 record, both LeBron James and head coach JJ Redick made one thing abundantly clear: they are not losing sleep over the three-point drought.

James, speaking to reporters postgame, didn’t mince words.

“It won’t last,” James said in the locker room. “We’re not worried about it. We’ve got too many good shooters. It won’t last.”

That confidence comes at a time when the Lakers sit 26th in three-point attempts and 26th in three-point percentage, hitting just 33.3 percent on the season.

Even with the spacing issues, Los Angeles has surged to one of the best records in the Western Conference and is tied with Denver for the second-best mark in the standings.

Redick echoed James’s stance, telling the media he sees the bigger picture beyond the box score.

“I told the guys this after the game. We’re literally one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA right now. I don’t think that’s who we are. We’ve gotta make shots and we’ve gotta shoot ’em with confidence and to me, if we’re guarding with that level of physicality and passing the ball to each other. Look, we had 23 assists, we could have easily had 30-some if we made shots tonight. We’ve gotta shoot the ball better, but it’s gotta be a belief in each other and a belief in ourselves to knock down shots.”

Individually, the numbers back up Redick’s point. Luka Doncic is hitting a career-low 31.1 percent from deep. Austin Reeves is in the same slump, while Marcus Smart is shooting 24 percent despite taking the third-most attempts on the roster. Rui Hachimura is the only rotation player above 35 percent from long range.

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However, from mid range and in the paint, the team is thriving funnily enough.

 

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