NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates 
[ad_1]
Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) has his drive toward the basket cut off by Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels during the second half Friday night in Minneapolis. (Abbie Parr / Associated Press)
Austin Reaves paused as he held a microphone in his hand, the Minnesota cold waiting for him as he got ready to try to answer for his team’s lousy offense.
Had the Lakers stunk all season on that side of the ball, had they been a stagnant mess from Day 1, maybe the answers would be clearer. But the Lakers used to be able to score. They moved and cut and shot and ran. Over the first 15 games of the season, they scored at least 110 points 12 times.
But in the 10 games since, the Lakers simply can’t get the ball in the hoop. They’ve been held beneath that 110-point mark eight times.
So what’s gone wrong?
Read more: Plaschke: Sinking Lakers franchise must throw LeBron James and Anthony Davis overboard
“That’s a good question,” Reaves said.
It’s not a single thing. Over the first 15 games — a stretch that ends with the Lakers coughing up a win against the Orlando Magic by missing a handful of clutch free throws — the Lakers shot 37.6% from three-point range. They averaged 27 free-throw attempts.
Since, they’ve been a mess.
The Lakers have made barely 30% of their threes. They’re shooting only 18.2 free throws a game. Tracking data shows they’re moving less almost across the board.
“I think in any profession you become, you know, a little frustrated if the results aren’t what you want them to be. And I don’t think the change is necessarily bad. I think people are trying to figure out what we can do to be more successful,” Reaves said as he tried to explain what’s changed. “And I think that we can go back to a lot of the things we were doing at the first of the season and that will help us be more successful. But like I said, I don’t think that’s any, there’s any intent behind, the way we’re playing.”
His absence for five games after a scary fall against the Oklahoma City Thunder certainly hurt the Lakers’ half-court offense, the team losing a shot-maker, one of its best movers and more…
[ad_2]Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-cant-lakers-score-examining-181231062.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-12-14 18:12:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
