The Los Angeles Lakers have climbed to second in the standings in the Western Conference following a 108-106 win over the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on Sunday. The Lakers, who are now 12-4, had yet another rough shooting night, however, and head coach JJ Redick spoke about those woes in his postgame press conference.
“I thought it was our defense [that] won us the game,” Redick said. “And I told the guys this after the game, we’re literally one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA right now. I don’t think that’s who we are. We’ve got to make shots and we got to shoot them with confidence… We had 23 assists.
“We could have easily had 30-some if we made shots tonight,” Redick added. “We got to shoot the ball better, but it’s got to be a belief in each other and a belief in ourselves to knock down shots.”
The Lakers went 38-86 (44.2%) from the field and 10-38 (26.3%) from beyond the arc against the Jazz. Their Big 3 of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves were all terrible from deep in this one.
Doncic was 3-12, Reaves 1-8, and James 0-4. While the backcourt duo has rightfully gotten a lot of praise for their play this season, they haven’t shot the ball well from deep.
Doncic and Reaves are both shooting 31.1% from three this season. Their struggles have contributed to the Lakers being one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA.
The Lakers are now shooting 33.3% from three in 2025-26, which ranks 26th in the league. They are only ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks, and Indiana Pacers. That’s not the company you want to keep.
Interestingly enough, the Lakers have been very effective inside the arc. Their 50.6% field goal percentage ranks second only behind the Denver Nuggets. They just need those threes to start falling.
Redick stated that his players had to shoot with confidence, and that led to him being asked if he had seen any hesitancy from them.
“We’re shooting,” Redick stated. “We’re taking a lot of shots that are there. I don’t necessarily think we’re turning down shots. We started off the year last year really poor from three-point. And then from, I think, it was December 23rd against the Pistons, we did launch drill and shoot around that morning. And then from then on, we were a really good shooting team.
“So, that took two months of the season,” Redick continued. “Hopefully it doesn’t take that long, but we got to shoot the ball better for us to be as good as we want to be.”
The Lakers had shot 34.4% from three in the lead-up to that game against the Detroit Pistons on Dec 23, 2024. They then shot 37.4% for the rest of the season, and it will be interesting to see if there’s a similar jump this time around as well.
LeBron James Isn’t Worried About The Lakers’ Shooting
James was also asked about the Lakers’ shooting struggles in his postgame media session, and he isn’t all too concerned about it.
“It won’t last,” James said. “Not worried about it. We got too many good shooters.”
James’ presence on the court will also lead to easier opportunities for his teammates. The 40-year-old remains one of the best playmakers in the NBA, recording 20 assists in his first two games of the campaign.
James, who has gone 2-7 from three so far this season, is a pretty good outside shooter himself as well. The 21-time All-Star shot 39.3% from beyond the arc over the last two seasons.
Expect James’ shots to start falling once he is fully up to speed. He and the Lakers are in action next against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 11 PM ET.
