Shooting Three Pointers Is A Reward for JaVale McGee And Dwight Howard
JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard have earned the right to shoot three-pointers.
Both big-men are shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc this season, each making three of their five shots from that distance. It's the first time in their careers that either one of them have made more than two three-pointers in a season.
LeBron James recently said he enjoys when they take those shots.
"They got a hell of a percentage and that's their reward when they battling the way they do versus bigs everyday," James said. "They setting screens, they rolling, they blocking shots, they changing shots -- that's their reward to be able to get a nice trail three, corner three as well. They've been knocking them down."
McGee and Howard have the highest three-point percentage in the NBA behind Oklahoma City's Nerlens Noel, who made the only three-pointer he took this season.
In the Lakers' 139-107 loss to Boston on Monday, McGee, who had a team-high 18 points on seven-for-nine shooting, made one of the two three-pointers he attempted with 1 minute and 33 seconds left to cut the Lakers' deficit to 30 points.
It wasn't exactly glamorous, but it's a marked difference from last season, when he only made one of his 12 three-pointers. Over his 12-season career, he's shot 15.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Howard has similar stats from that range, shooting 13.2 percent over his 16-season career. He didn't even attempt a three-pointer last season.
McGee, who is 7-feet tall, denied that he and the 6-feet-10 Howard have a friendly competition over being the best sharp-shooting center on the Lakers.
"We have a friendly competition with the league," McGee said. "We've got some of the highest three-point percentages in the league. We're not competing with each other. We're competing with the whole league, the same way our whole team is competing with the league. So, just let the shooters shoot."
Howard, however, said he "demolished" McGee at a recent practice when they were shooting three-pointers during their individual workouts.
McGee was quick to point out that centers practice everything on the court, just as a point guard would also practice boxing out and rebounding. He knows his role is to be a rim protector -- but his skills extend beyond that.
"I'm just supposed to just sit and be a dunker and practice that and nothing [else]?" McGee said. "It's basketball, so I practice my midrange, I practice on the dribble, I practice shooting threes, I practice post moves, I practice everything. It's all-around game."
Obviously, the Lakers' game plan does not involve three-pointers from their bigs. But Lakers' coach Frank Vogel said he doesn't mind them taking those shots every once in a while.
"Those guys are doing the dirty work, so you got to have a little leeway sometimes to have fun with the game," Vogel said. "They both practice them, so that's the one thing. You're like, 'Don't take a shot you don't practice.' But they do practice them, and you got to reward them a little bit for all their hustle and dirty work at times."
