The Los Angeles Lakers suffered one of their worst shooting performances of the season in their fourth seeding game of the NBA restart. They shot 35% from the field and a paltry 14% behind the arc in a 105-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Cold shooting has been a recurring theme for the Lakers inside the Walt Disney World bubble. It was overshadowed in some regard with a gritty win against the L.A. Clippers on Opening Night, and on Monday when Anthony Davis poured in 42 points to help the Lakers defeat the Utah Jazz.
Davis failed to crack double digits against the Thunder, but remained adamant the Lakers would overcome their ongoing struggles. “I think we’re fine,” he said. “Obviously we’re trying to integrate some guys who haven’t been here.
“Trying to get those guys going while getting guys who were here before going again. I don’t think anything has really gotten us besides the 3-point shooting. I think we’re fine. I don’t think anything is eye-opening or something we need to be afraid of. Offense is going to come around.
“If we continue to do the things we’ve been doing defensively, we’ll be fine. If our defense was bad, then we’d be a little more in shock with our team and where we are. But I think our defense is where we want it to be. We clinched first, so we’re fine. Obviously we want to win games and continue to improve, but we just want to make sure we continue to sharpen our tools going into the postseason.”
While the Lakers dealt with inconsistent shooting performances throughout the season, the team has now put together a string of bad performances. They have failed to surpass 30% from behind the arc in all but one of their games since entering the bubble.
“We have a lot of veteran guys. No one is really hanging their head. Obviously guys want to make shots. We’re getting super wide open shots. Guys are confident in their shot, and they’re not hesitating,” Davis noted.
“It’s not like we’re missing pretty bad. We’ve just got to keep shooting the basketball, and guys know that. Guys are in the gym every day putting shots up, so we have confidence in each other that we’re going to make shots.”
Frank Vogel considering changes after inconsistent play
While the Lakers don’t technically need to win any of their remaining seeding games, it is crucial for teams to play their best basketball as they enter the postseason. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel indicated he is considering some changes to jumpstart his team.
“Part of what we’re learning is some things are not working,” said Vogel. “Obviously, when something’s not working, you either change the personnel or change the way you’re using them. Those are the things we’re looking at right now.
“Looking at our bench guys, we’re working in some new guys, you have to learn how to use them, what combinations they fit best with. So we’re looking at everything.”
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