Los Angeles Lakers: Lonzo Ball finding his offense amidst shooting slump

With a recent shooting slump, Lonzo Ball is trying to find his offense for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball anchored a Lakers team that went on a 5-0 run after the All-Star break. I wrote on March 4th about how Lonzo Ball returned form injury and had solid performances for the Lakers. In the 4 games he played in that stretch, he averaged 12.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 2.5 steals. He also shot an efficient 55.1 percent from the field to lead the Lakers to a +15.8 point differential in that stretch.

Amidst this current three-game losing streak, Lonzo’s shooting has returned to its early season form. He’s been very inefficient from the field, shooting 26.7 percent in the past three games. Also, in this stretch, 50 percent of his shots have been from distance. This over-reliance on his 3-point shot could be due to his recent success in shooting from the perimeter. During the 5-game win streak, Lonzo was shooting 63.6% from downtown, converting 14 shots on 22 attempts, per ESPN.

Ball’s insistence on shooting mostly 3’s and his recent struggles shooting led to head coach Luke Walton to say that he’d like to see Ball be more aggressive on offense and look for more opportunities. Fellow LakeShowLife writer Kenneth Teape wrote about Luke’s insistence that Lonzo should look to score more beyond just the three-pointer.

Defenses often slip the screen when Lonzo runs a pick-and-roll, leaving him open to shoot 3’s. Though, since Ball is shooting so poorly from distance, he should consider how to get better looks from this play-set.

According to Basketball Reference, 52 percent of Lonzo’s shots this season are 3-pointers. With Lonzo currently shooting 31.5 percent from distance on the season, it doesn’t make sense to be taking such a high volume of his shots from the perimeter. Monday night’s loss to the Pacers is an example of this issue, where all four of Ball’s shots came from distance as he went 1-for-4.

Lonzo’s offensive game is spectacular outside of his shooting. No one complains about his passing, rebounding or defensive intensity. His instinctive nature to share the ball with his teammates has helped the Lakers’ offense flourish. Though, Ball must refine his shooting and offensive decision making for the Lakers to be better. Too often Lonzo will drive the lane and pass up an open look to pass the ball to the perimeter for a potential three. This often works, but sometimes it ends up in an empty possession with a lower percentage shot being taken.

For instance, in Monday night’s game against the Pacers, Lonzo drove into the lane against Myles Turner and got caught in the air. While he could have taken a semi-contested floater, he attempted to pass to Kyle Kuzma in the corner. Kuzma decided to unexpectedly cut to the rim which confused Ball. Ball then got called for traveling as he fell to the ground before releasing the ball. It is sequences like this that leave the coaching staff insistent on Ball becoming more comfortable looking for his own offense.

To increase his offensive efficiency, Lonzo Ball needs to look to drive into the lane more often. He’s shooting 40 percent on 2-point field goal attempts, which is more encouraging than his 31.5 percent from downtown.

Next: Reasons for the Lakers' losing streak

Finding the balance between passing and scoring will be tough for Ball to figure out. Though, if he increases his offensive efficiency, the Lakers will be better poised to win games. If he can re-capture the offense that lead the Lakers to a five game win streak, the Lakers should be able to more consistently win games.