The Lack of Lakers’ Offense

Oct 16, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers gaurd

(24) is defended by Utah Jazz guard Gordon Haywood (20) at the Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Lakers preseason has been riddled with many of the same issues from seasons past: lack of defense, injuries, sporadic lineups. But this season, a new problem has arisen – a lack of offense. Last night the Lakers fell to the lowly Utah Jazz in their 4th preseason game, 119-86. The score alone tells a tale of deep issues for the team, but another stat is even more frightening; the Lakers have not attempted a corner three pointer in their past 2 games, while only attempting 8 and missing all of them. For all the negatives from Mike D’Antoni, this was never an issue under his watch.

The Lakers best offensive performance came in their first preseason game against the Denver Nuggets, which led to a 98-95 victory. The Lakers only shot 44.8% from the field, but did manage to hit 5 of 10 three pointers. Since then the Lakers have shot below 44% from the field and below 10% from beyond the arc (yes, you read that correctly).

Take a look at this shot chart from the Lakers game against the Golden State Warriors on October 12th (Lakers on the right).

Look at the difference. Very limited shots outside the paint for the Warriors, and shots that are from mid-range are mostly makes. Compare that to the Lakers who have an unbelievable amount of X’s from the mid-range.  Sadly this wasn’t a one-off issue; every single shot chart of the Lakers looks the same, and the opposing team’s looks closer to the Warriors style compared to the Lakers.

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The issue appears to be two-fold. One: Byron Scott doesn’t want this team to shoot a lot of three pointers. He believes the team isn’t very good at them so he lets them settle for mid-range jumpers. Two: The preseason has already been brutal to the Lakers depth. Jeremy Lin and Steve Nash, the Lakers two most viable options at point guard, have both missed time. Last night Ronnie Price, Keith Appling, and Wayne Ellington combined to play 75 total minutes last night. For an NBA team, that is not a good thing. Without a reliable option at point guard, the Lakers offense is struggling to run like it should.

Byron Scott doesn’t like the three ball nearly as much as D’Antoni, but Scott stated he’d like the team to shoot 10-15, not less than 5 as the team has been accustomed to.Once the Lakers get back Nick Young, Jeremy Lin, Ryan Kelly, and Steve Nash (don’t hold your breathe on that one), their three point shooting should improve. Until then, the Lakers offense is going to look an awful lot like that shot chart.