MINNEAPOLIS — Austin Reaves paused as he held a microphone in his hand, the Minnesota cold waiting for him as he got ready to try to answer for his team’s lousy offense.
Had the Lakers stunk all season on that side of the ball, had they been a stagnant mess from Day 1, maybe the answers would be clearer. But the Lakers used to be able to score. They moved and cut and shot and ran. Over the first 15 games of the season, they scored at least 110 points 12 times.
But in the 10 games since, the Lakers simply can’t get the ball in the hoop. They’ve been held beneath that 110-point mark eight times.
So what’s gone wrong?
“That’s a good question,” Reaves said.
It’s not a single thing. Over the first 15 games — a stretch that ends with the Lakers coughing up a win against the Orlando Magic by missing a handful of clutch free throws — the Lakers shot 37.6% from three-point range. They averaged 27 free-throw attempts.
Since, they’ve been a mess.
The Lakers have made barely 30% of their threes. They’re shooting only 18.2 free throws a game. Tracking data shows they’re moving less almost across the board.
“I think in any profession you become, you know, a little frustrated if the results aren’t what you want them to be. And I don’t think the change is necessarily bad. I think people are trying to figure out what we can do to be more successful,” Reaves said as he tried to explain what’s changed. “And I think that we can go back to a lot of the things we were doing at the first of the season and that will help us be more successful. But like I said, I don’t think that’s any, there’s any intent behind, the way we’re playing.”
His absence for five games after a scary fall against the Oklahoma City Thunder certainly hurt the Lakers’ half-court offense, the team losing a shot-maker, one of its best movers and more competitive players.
Yet even with Reaves, the Lakers’ weaknesses on the offensive side are becoming clear.
Teams playing the Lakers know they can push them off their cuts, force them into so-so screens and walk them into stagnation. It’s an indictment of the roster’s physical limitations, the Lakers lacking the athleticism and toughness to fight through those kind of physical defensive game plans.
There’s also been the issue of LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and premiere mismatch hunter. The Lakers’ desires to play a movement-based offense had James’ buy-in early in the season, but whether because of fatigue or familiarity, his lack of offensive movement has been more pronounced over the last month.
He’s admitted to going through an adjustment with the system change, and coach JJ Redick and Lakers assistants have spoken about ways to still highlight James in ways he’s most comfortable.
James has been away from the team during his rehab and recovery from a foot injury. Perhaps a more refreshed James sparks the Lakers offense.
Another problem, both for the team and the player, has been D’Angelo Russell’s season. Privately, Russell has committed to Redick and to trying to play “the right way,” but his offensive efficiency numbers plummeted with his lower usage off the bench.
As he enters free agency this upcoming summer, it’s fair to wonder if Russell will begin to play more selfishly as he tries to better build value.
The Lakers are acutely aware of all of these issues and more, Redick vowing to get the team in the gym more frequently over the next month as their travel commitments lighten.
But frustration is mounting with the Lakers trending in the wrong direction.
“Got to score,” Anthony Davis said. “Getting good looks … we haven’t been shooting the ball from three well. Just got to make shots. We’re getting great looks. We’re generating open threes, generating open looks for our guys. We just got to be confident enough to make them.”
But it’s hard to be confident when you’re playing like this.
