LA Lakers shockingly shooting 3-for-21 from 3-pt at halftime vs Dallas has fans in disbelief: "Can't blame Westbrook"
The LA Lakers started tonight's game against the Dallas Mavericks shooting 0-15 from a three-point distance. It wasn't until around the five-minute mark of the second quarter that they made their first long-range shot courtesy of Troy Brown Jr.
Malik Beasley, who couldn't seem to miss against the Golden State Warriors, started 0-6, while LeBron James was 0-3 in the first half. The Lakers have retooled their lineup to get what James calls "lasers," but it's been largely up and down.
After their erratic shooting, fans quickly pounced on the Lakers' misfortune with hilarious or nasty comments:
"So who’s the problem now? You can’t blame Westbrook."
@LakeShowYo @god So who’s the problem now? You can’t blame Westbrook😂
Instead of pushing for the playoffs, one fan thought the Lakers might be headed in the opposite direction.
"They coming for that rockets record."
@LakeShowYo @god They coming for that rockets record
@LakeShowYo i haven’t said BANG! For the lakers once yet.
@LakeShowYo Cinderella run of g league opponent with the new squad is over back to missing the play in now 😤🔥
@LakeShowYo Somehow this Westbrook fault too right?
@LakeShowYo After they beat a depleted Warriors team, Lakers thought they were on to something.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@LakeShowYo Only on National TV bruh does the lakers loose all ability to shoot. Lights just to big. Not a playoff team
I can’t watch this Lakers game anymore bro who got a link to the Jake Paul fight?
@LakeShowYo AD just letting Christian wood run down the lane. BANG!
The LA Lakers finished the first 24 minutes against the Dallas Mavericks, hitting just 3-21 (14.3%) from deep.
In their blowout victory against the Golden State Warriors last Thursday, Malik Beasley went 7-11 from long-range. Mo Bamba was 2-4, while Walker was 2-3. The Lakers exploded from behind the arc with a 16-30 shooting clip. They couldn't replicate the same efficiency against the Mavericks.
Dallas, meanwhile, has been on fire. Luka Doncic was 3-5, while Tim Hardaway Jr. was 3-4.
The LA Lakers can't pass up drives for the three-point shot
On several occasions, the LA Lakers forced the Dallas Mavericks' defense into bad situations. They could have taken the ball straight to the rack instead of jacking up closely-contested threes on a few of them.
LeBron James, Malik Beasley, Dennis Schroder and Lonnie Walker IV were all guilty of this in the first half.
The Lakers did a much better job attacking the paint in the second half. After jacking up 21 threes in the first 24 minutes of the game, they attempted just five trifectas in the third quarter, although they missed all of them.
In the fourth period, the LA Lakers converted 3-8 three-point attempts. In all, they were 3-21 in the first half and 3-13 in the last 24 minutes of the game.
Getting to the rim gave the Lakers a much better flow on offense. Both LeBron James and Anthony Davis have attacked more to put pressure on the defense.
After a slow first half, James and Davis improved their offensive display in the second part of the game. The uptick in production was aided by their aggressiveness in attacking the defense rather than settling for outside shots.
With "King James" determined to attack the paint, his teammates followed suit. The LA Lakers were so terrible from beyond the arc last night that they had to live in the paint.
Ultimately, the change in strategy worked for Darvin Ham's team. They smothered the Mavericks 62-32 in paint production, which was a big reason for the Lakers' 27-point turnaround.
The LA Lakers briefly grabbed the lead at the start of the fourth quarter after trailing throughout the entire game. 13 lead changes in the fourth quarter showed their dogged determination to turn their embarrassing initial performance into something worth celebrating.
LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Jarred Vanderbilt helped pull off the impossible this season by returning to their identity. It might be a lesson they'll likely not forget after last night's come-from-behind victory.