Don’t look now but the Los Angeles Lakers have been quietly transforming what has been one of the league’s worst 3-point shooting teams this season into a legitimate top-5 3-point shooting modern offensive juggernaut.
The Lakers 110–97 win over the favored Knicks was their 5th in 6 games and showcased how their new high-volume, high percentage 3-point attack has transformed their old-school offense into a modern 3-ball juggernaut. The Lakers made 15 of 44 threes against the Knicks for just 34% in the win while their aggressive defense held New York to just 8 of 34 threes for 24%. The Lakers outscored the Knicks from deep by 7 threes for 21 points.
In the last 6 games, the Lakers shooting more threes has transformed their usual pick-and-roll attack into a top-5 offensive juggernaut with a 4th best 15.5 makes per game, a 13th best 38.3 takes per game, for a 2nd best 40.6%. Before those 6 games, the Lakers were essentially a bottom-10 3-point shooting team for the first 75% of the season, posting a 23rd best 11.7 makes per game, a 25th best 33.2 takes per game, for a 19th best 35.2%.
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So what’s behind the Lakers’ sudden jump in 3-point shots with 20 games left in the season? Was this a specific strategic move to modernize the Lakers’ old school offense or did their 3-point shots suddenly start falling?
While the Lakers lack the elite volume 3-point shooters to sustain this strategy for a full season, they could easily pull it off for a 20-game stretch run, especially if they can convert Luke Kennard into a volume shooter.
While the Lakers wrote off this season as a ‘gap’ year, JJ Redick is making a smart late season gamble that taking and making a lot more threes is their best shot at finishing the season strong and going deep into the playoffs.
HOW LAKERS ARE MAKING & TAKING MORE THREES?
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During the last 6 games, the Lakers had 6 players who took over 4.3 threes per game, made over 1.8 threes per game, and shot over 37.9% from deep. Those 6 players averaged 35.1 takes and 15.3 makes per game for 43.6%.
The elite high volume, high percentage 3-point shooting of those 6 players has transformed the Lakers’ offense into a 3-ball juggernaut and energized everyone on the team to greatly ramp up their defensive effort and hustle. Redick has always believed that moving and sharing the ball on offense would synergistically create more movement and aggression on defense. Players need touches and shots on offense to be at their best defensively.
The outstanding results from this latest 6-game stretch is a 5–1 Lakers record with the league’s 6th best offensive rating of 120.3 and league’s 5th best defensive rating of 106.8 for the league’s 5th best net rating of +13.4.
In contrast, right before their current 5–1 stretch, the Lakers finished a 6-game stretch where they went 2–4 with the 17th best offensive rating of 112.5, 26th best defensive rating of 118.4, and 22nd best net rating of -5.8.
The difference between the two 6-game streaks is the Lakers increased their 3-point attempts from under 30 to almost 40 during the most recent 6-game stretch, generating an additional 2.4 threes and 7.1 points per game.
While the Lakers still face a gauntlet of 4 ‘must win’ games vs. playoff quality teams over the next 5 games, the big win over the Knicks gave the Lakers confidence to keep playing like the juggernaut they’ve become.
The Lakers are on a mission to win their next 5 games and stretch their current 2-game winning streak into a killer 7-game winning streak while jumping up the standings from their current #5 seed to the #3 seed.
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