LeBron James didn’t sugarcoat his assessment of the Lakers’ shooting struggles after a 123-109 loss to the Warriors in Tuesday’s season opener.
“We’re getting great looks, but it surely may be teams giving us great looks,” James said postgame on the Chase Center. “To be completely honest, we’re not a team that’s constructed of great shooting and that’s just the reality of the matter. It’s not like we’re sitting here with a number of lasers on our team.
“But that doesn’t deter us from still attempting to get great shots. Whenever you get those opportunities, you’re taking them. We’re not sitting here with a bunch of 40-plus [percent] profession three point shooting guys.”
James recorded 31 points on 12-of-25 shooting (3-of-10 from three) to go along with 14 rebounds and eight assists. The Lakers were 10-of-40 from three within the opener, with Westbrook and Anthony Davis a combined 1-or-6 from deep.
Davis tallied 27 points (0-of-3 from three), six rebounds and 4 steals within the loss.
Westbrook, who’s been limited because of hamstring injury, added 19 points (1-of-3 from three), 11 rebounds and three assists.
The Lakers are aware that 3-point shooting is a weakness for his or her current roster. They finished preseason with a 3-point shooting percentage of 28.6% that ranked twenty sixth amongst the 30 NBA teams.
During media day, vp of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said, “I feel when it comes to shooting, we all know that’s a needed skill.”
The Lakers ranked bottom-10 in three-point shooting in 2021-22, and failed to choose up any sharpshooters over the summer, which was flooded with questions on retooling their roster following a disastrous 33-49 record last season.
Los Angeles also didn’t retain any of their top three-point shooters in Malik Monk (Kings) and free agents, Carmelo Anthony and Wayne Ellington.
James (34.6 percent), together with Patrick Beverley (37.7 percent), and Kendrick Nunn (36.5 percent), currently own the very best profession three-point shooting percentages on the roster.
Meanwhile, Steph Curry led the reigning champion Warriors to their first win of the season with 33 points after a slow start — following the team’s pregame championship ring ceremony.
The Lakers host the Clippers on Thursday.