Are the Lakers a mediocre shooting team? Or are they a team with good shooters who are underperforming beyond the 3-point arc?
The answer to those questions will be a defining factor in the Lakers’post-All-Star break success, which starts with Friday’s home game against the Clippers.
The Lakers entered Friday ranked No. 21 in 3-point percentage at 35%, worse than last season’s 36.6% 3-point shooting (No. 14) and the previous season’s 37.7% (No. 8).
While their perimeter shooting has been a factor in the offense not performing as expected, there are reasons for optimism that their outside shooting will be a strength in the final “sprint” of the regular season.
The Lakers shot 37% from beyond the arc in their 19 games leading into the break, which ranked No. 7 across the league, despite their player availability being in flux for most of that stretch after previously being one of the league’s worst shooting teams (33.9% in the first 35 games).
As one of the more prolific pull-up 3-point shooting teams (12.2 attempts, fifth most in the league), which are naturally tougher and lower-percentage shots than catch-and-shoot 3s, the Lakers will fight an uphill battle with their raw 3-point percentage.
But if they can maintain the 37% shooting on catch-and-shoot 3s they shot over the last month (an average mark) instead of the 34.8% they were previously shooting (an abysmal number), then they should sustain the recent 3-point success.
And there are plenty of reasons why they should be able to.
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Most of theLakers’ higher-volume shootersare underperforming on catch-and-shoot 3s this season vs. their previous few seasons, including Luka Doncic,LeBron James, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
