It is every basketball fan’s dream to sink in a buzzer-beating shot on a big stage. Los Angeles Lakers wing Matt Ryan, who has worked hard to get to the NBA and maintain a roster spot, saw his dream came alive Wednesday in a victory against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Even though Ryan came off the bench, Darvin Ham drew up the play for the 6-foot-6-inch forward because of his sharpshooting ability with the team trailing by three and the game on the line. The famous shot that erupted the Lakers faithful at Crypto.Com Arena sending the game to overtime even caught the attention of NBA Hall of Fame sharpshooter Ray Allen.
The 10-time NBA All-Star knows a thing or two about shooting from behind the arc. When shown the clip of Ryan’s game-tying 3-pointer, Allen gave a quick breakdown of how he was successful at making that tough jump-shot:
2x NBA Champion Ray Allen breaks down Matt Ryan’s game-tying 3-pointer 👀
The @Lakers host the Jazz tonight at 10:30 PM ET on the NBA App 📲 pic.twitter.com/YwVCwCRJnt
— NBA (@NBA) November 4, 2022
Coaches and sharpshooters like Allen always preach mastering the lift of the jump shot, which is what helped Ryan make the 3-pointer after a long pass from Austin Reaves. However, none of this would have been possible without the initial confidence Ryan had of receiving the pass and hoisting up a shot.
As the Lakers continue to figure out how to get rid of their 3-point struggles, the Purple and Gold are seeing good signs of progress from guys like Ryan who no one could have expected to make a difference for an aspiring championship team.
For a shooter like him though, seeing a legend like Allen break down his shot had to have been a cool experience.
Walker has maintained confidence despite poor shooting to begin season
The Lakers have not had a lot of things go right for them during the start of the season. However, someone who deserves a lot of attention for how well he has been performing despite struggles is Lonnie Walker IV.
After being signed in free agency from the San Antonio Spurs, Walker stepped into a shot-creating scoring role with now a responsibility to be more efficient from behind the arc. What has helped Walker make seasonal strides is staying confidence even though he experienced some poor shooting nights.
If Walker can be consistent on the offensive end and do his due diligence defensively under Darvin Ham’s scheme, the Lakers may have found a franchise asset moving forward.
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