SALT LAKE CITY — After acquiring Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers’ 3-point volume dramatically increased.
They went from taking 33.8 3-point attempts per game (No. 27 in the league) in their 50 games before Doncic’s debut to 40.4 (No. 8) after Doncic’s first game with the team.
The uptick in shots from beyond the arc stemmed from not only Doncic’s high-volume 3-point shooting, but also the types of shots he created for his teammates. And the Lakers’ small-ball lineups naturally generate more opportunities from beyond the arc.
That hasn’t carried over into this season.
The Lakers once again have started a season as one of the league’s lower volume 3-point shooting teams, attempting 32.3 shots from beyond the arc entering Sunday’s road game against the Utah Jazz, which ranked No. 26 in the league.
Their 10.9 makes from beyond the arc was also the league’s lowest mark.
When asked pregame, Coach JJ Redick was confident the Lakers’ 3-point volume would improve, but not at the expense of running good offense.
“I brought up the trends, early season trends the other day, roughly 20% of the way through the season league wide and one of the trends was three point volume over the last couple of seasons has sort of stabilized and one of the early trends for this season in terms of offenses is teams just sort of maximizing whatever their personnel is,” Redick said. “So we want to shoot good 3-pointers, 3-point shots. We want to touch the paint, we want to get spray-out 3s, we want to get transition 3s from the corner, get in our corners filled in transition.
“Our three-point volume will certainly increase over the course of the season, but we’re going to do the things that put our guys in a position to create advantages and generate good offense.”
The Lakers entered the weekend as one of the league’s most-efficient shooting teams despite their low 3-point volume and accuracy because of their efficiency inside the arc.
They entered Sunday as the league’s most-accurate shooting team at the rim, floater range and midrange, according to Cleaning The Glass.
“However, that looks as it morphs and evolves throughout the year, that’s just going to be what it is, the philosophy behind it,” Redick added. “And if it ends up being we shoot 40 3s a game, Great.”
LOOKING BACK
With the Lakers’ previous game being against the Jazz last Tuesday, it offered the opportunity for both coaches to reflect on the matchup the Lakers won 140-126 in Los Angeles.
Jazz Coach Will Hardy addressed what helps Austin Reaves get going offensively.
“I mean, they shot 40 free throws in that game,” Hardy said. “And Luka [Doncic] and Austin Reaves shot 28 of them. Austin’s a hell of a player, but I think it’s hard to say the free-throw line gets someone going. But if he’s gonna shoot 10-12 free throws in a game, it’s hard because good players, good shooters do find a rhythm when they get to shoot that many free throws.
“I felt like our body position, our angles, defensively in the last game, we were just way too much on the side of Austin in particular. And when he gets a step, he does such a good job of playing in a straight line. If he gets that advantage, he doesn’t give it back to you.”
Redick acknowledged getting to the free-throw line is more of a player’s skill set rather than something that’s coached.
“It’s mostly skillset,” he said. “Those two guys in particular have such awareness of a defender’s body position, the help defender’s hands. Both those guys are really good at drawing fouls. And then the little bit of it for us is just the subtle reminders every now and then during a game, just to touch the paint. And we feel like the numbers back this up – when we touch the paint, we’re an elite team. And those guys are elite when they drive and we need them doing that all the time.