Los Angeles Lakers: 3 takeaways from ugly loss to Los Angeles Clippers

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 29: Julius Randle #30 of the Los Angeles Lakers goes to the basket against the LA Clippers on December 29, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 29: Julius Randle #30 of the Los Angeles Lakers goes to the basket against the LA Clippers on December 29, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 29: Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers goes to the basket against the LA Clippers on December 29, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 29: Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers goes to the basket against the LA Clippers on December 29, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Three Point Struggles Continue

The Lakers rank last in the league in three-point shooting at 32.5 percent. While ranking last in their percentage, the team still has a tendency to attempt quite a few three pointers with 26.9 per game. Although this ranks twentieth in the league, the margin of attempts is smaller between the Lakers and the Clippers – ranked tenth – than the Lakers and the New York Knicks – ranked last.

Last night the Lakers shot a putrid 15.8 percent from deep. The team only connected on three of their 19 attempts. Moreover, the starting five only made one three out of 12 attempts – 8.3 percent. The Lakers were lucky, however, as the Clippers also struggled to make threes. They shot 28.1 percent from deep as they only hit nine of 32 attempts.

If the team hopes to win more games in the future they should begin to shoot three pointers much more in practice or attempt them less in-game and focus on their dominance in the paint.

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