Lakers News: L.A. In The History Books For All The Wrong Reasons To Start Season
After falling to an 0-3 2022-23 regular season record today thanks to a stunning 106-104 last-second loss to the Portland Trail Blazers today, your Los Angeles Lakers find themselves on the wrong side of some unique NBA history.
After consulting with ESPN Stats and Info, Marc J. Spears of ESPN reports that Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook, who has had a miserable two games following a decent regular season debut, has actually tied the single-lowest field goal percentage (with at least 25 field goal looks) across any two-game run by a Laker during the last 50 years. Spears writes that Westbrook's 4-for-26 field goal run between the Lakers' 103-97 Thursday loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and today's 106-104 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers number ties him with the other worst-ever Lakers shooting run: a prior two-game shooting nadir from Westbrook himself, this past January.
Spears adds that L.A. is connecting on a scant 21.2% of its long-range attempts through three games this year. For teams who have taken at least 100 triples over three days (which has happened more than 6,100 times), this rate is the second-lowest ever, just a hair under the Atlanta Hawks' 21% mark during a three-game block in 2018.
There's one noisy constant in both these statistic: Westbrook. Should L.A. opt to move the point guard's bloated $47.1 million expiring contract, or at least send him away from the team, it will essentially by default improve its own overall shotmaking accuracy. Westbrook is the worst shooter on the club, by far, but he's hardly the only below-average jump shooter. Team vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka has come under fire in recent days for his questionable roster construction, as critics have (rightfully) pointed out that All-Star forward LeBron James thrives offensively when surrounded by shooters, which frees up the paint for James to drive to the rack for easier buckets.
