Lakers News: LA Starter Explains Most Efficient Shooting Run Ever

Alex Kirschenbaum | Apr 5, 2024

Dec 30, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) communicates with colleagues Cam Reddish (5) and D'Angelo Russell (1). / Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

New(ish) full-time Los Angeles Lakers starting power forward Rui Hachimura has been thriving ever since he was permanently added to LA's starting five on February 3rd. His recent efficiency numbers bear that out, too.

Per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times, Hachimura has been connecting on 59% of his field goal attempts and 45% of his three-point tries.

“[It’s] just what we wanted,” Hachimura said of his moving into the starting group. “Last year in the playoffs, core guys came back. And there were a lot of injuries and lineup changes and all that, we were in different places the first 30 games. But we’ve kind of picked it up in the second half of the season and [are] building again. And I think we’re playing for each other, we trust each other and I think it’s been great.”

Across 63 games with LA this season (34 starts), the 6'8" Gonzaga product is averaging 13.3 points on .542/.423/.730 shooting splits, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.6 steals a night. And he's contributing in a variety of ways, on both ends of the court, as he himself notes.

“You can see, like on offense, I can cut to the rim, I can get wide-open threes,” Hachimura said. “And defensively, we’re all switching. It’s easy. We’re very physical, can get rebounds and all that. So I think it’s good. We just have to keep building this.”