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While the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled with uneven play on defense and, at times, taking care of basketball, filling the basket has not been a problem.
Entering Friday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers lead the NBA in field goal percentage (52.4 percent) and are No. 2 in 3-point shooting (41.7 percent).
The Lakers have five players averaging double figures in LeBron James (23.4 points per game), Anthony Davis (19.8), Dennis Schröder (17.6), Montrezl Harrell (14.0) and Kyle Kuzma (12, 0).
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (9.8) is about to join that group.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said his team’s ability to share basketball and spread wealth makes it difficult to defend them offensively.
“We are playing smart, offensive basketball,” Vogel said. “We are really attacking. And with the exception of a few stretches in the Portland game, we’re really thinking extra pass basketball. We have a lot of shot makers on this team. So if you focus on the quality of the shots and the extra passing with the shot makers that we have on this team, we will have the ability to be efficient. ”
Along with 23.4 points, James is averaging seven rebounds and 6.8 assists per game.
James said that with Schröder and center Marc Gasol on the roster, he can go back to being one of the best finalists in the game.
“I will never try to put a limit or a ceiling when trying to evolve my game,” James said. “This year with the incorporation of Dennis and the incorporation of Marc, to be able to play without the ball, to move without the ball again and to cut. As you’ve seen I had a good cut tonight (Wednesday), when Dennis drove from the baseline I was able to cut his vision and make a dunk, some easy points.
“I haven’t been able to do that in a few years. So I could go back to that, using my wide receiver skills. ”
One of the things that makes the Lakers difficult to stop is that they have multiple players who can get baskets. Wesley Matthews shot 6 of 6 from beyond the arc, finishing with 18 points in a win over the Spurs on Wednesday.
And the team’s top scorer during the preseason, Talen Horton-Tucker, hasn’t had a chance to get going during the regular season.
The Lakers can score in a variety of ways, and that makes it difficult to contain them. They can play at a fast pace or slow it down and execute in a half court environment. They can beat him inside the paint, or on the perimeter with deep shots or shots to the basket. So it’s basically choosing your poison for the opposing team.
“We’ve really improved our spacing,” Vogel said. “And only the readings within our offense, understanding what the defense is going to give you. We want to be a great reading team, with a great space around us. And if we read and commit to shot quality, we have enough shot makers on this team to score the ball at a very efficient rate. I think we’ve done it for most of our opening season, except for a few stages. ”
