Los Angeles Lakers: Why we can expect a win in Game 4 vs. Nuggets
By Jason Reed
1. The Los Angeles Lakers shot terribly in Game 3 and it will improve
The Los Angeles Lakers are not known as a great three-point shooting team but their efforts in Game 3 were not good, at all. The Lakers made just six of their 26 attempts from the land of three points, good enough for 23.1 percent.
This is simply not going to cut it in the NBA Playoffs and it is why the Lakers lost. Consider this: Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo and Alex Caruso all went a combined 0-11 from beyond the arc in this game. If they each make one three then the Lakers have 115 points. Denver had 114.
Granted, things in the game itself would have happened differently, but you get the point. Just a decent shooting night (nine of 26 is still only 34.6 percent) would have been enough to get the job done for the Lakers.
This should not be a concern for the team moving forward considering that they recovered very nicely the other times that this has happened in the playoffs.
They shot 15.6 percent in their Game 1 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and followed it up with a 23-point victory in which they shot 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. They then shot 28.9 percent in Game 1 against Houston and followed suit with an eight-point win in which they shot 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Recent history indicates that they will be much better shooting the basketball in Game 4.