Lakers vs. 76ers proved L.A.'s most surprising flaw can be fixed with patience

The Los Angeles Lakers have been as polarizing a team as any in the NBA during the early stages of the regular season. Three of their first four wins were over postseason-caliber opponents, but they've also been on the wrong end of two blowouts, squandered an 18-point lead, and lost to the Detroit Pistons.

There are no shortage of flaws to evaluate following a stretch of four losses in five games, but one obvious issue will be easily corrected if Los Angeles simply remains patient.

Going 1-4 on a five-game road trip is less than ideal, even with a 3-0 cushion created at the start of the season. The thin line between overreacting and identifying issues, however, is maintaining perspective on what the team has proven capable of doing—as well as what it hasn't.

In the curious case of the Lakers forgetting how to shoot the three-ball, the overreactions to their inefficiency have been wildly premature.

LeBron James has openly acknowledged the Lakers' perplexing and "demoralizing" tendency to miss wide-open shots. It's a rational response to wonder what the team needs to do to get back on track, but it's far too soon to claim that one of the most efficient teams in the NBA has forgotten how to shoot.

Thankfully, the Lakers proved against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, Nov. 8 that patience is as virtuous as advertised.

Lakers' three-point inefficiency is an easily correctable flaw

Los Angeles entered Friday's game against the 76ers shooting 34.4 percent from beyond the arc. That figure ranked No. 20 in the NBA. The lack of volume from 2023-24 might imply that this is an expected development, but the Lakers' inefficiency is a product of uncharacteristic shooting woes.

Los Angeles ranked No. 8 in the Association in three-point field goal percentage a season ago, and should get back to that level by embracing a simple choice: To be patient.

Austin Reaves, a career 36.3 percent shooter from beyond the arc, was making just 33.3 percent of his attempts entering the 76ers game. D'Angelo Russell shot 41.5 percent from beyond the arc in 2023-24 and has knocked down 38.4 percent of his attempts in 2020-21, but was at 29.2 percent.

For that matter, Max Christie was shooting 10.2 percent below his career three-point field goal percentage and Gabe Vincent was 14.6 percent below his.

Thankfully, the flaws began to be rectified against Philadelphia. Reaves shot 6-of-10 from beyond the arc to lead a remarkable team effort during which the team was 16-of-35 from three-point range. It inevitably walked away with a 116-106 win.

Russell was a big part of that success, scoring 18 points and shooting 2-of-4 from distance in his first game as a reserve.

The obvious context is that a sample size of less than 10 games is insufficient to the cause of determining long-term trends. The fact that it's not just a sample size of less than 10 games, but the first nine outings of the season, calls for an infinitely stronger degree of patience.

There are other areas in which the Lakers must figure out how to adjust their tactics, but from a three-point shooting perspective, it's truly as simple as letting the shooters remember who they are.