With LeBron James in the midst of his worst outside shooting slump since his rookie year, Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said he was unsure whether the veteran star’s goal to play in all 82 games is sustainable this season.
“I don’t know that’s in the best interest of him and us if he does that, but if he’s feeling well and feeling good, then he should play,” Redick said after James tied a season low with 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field in L.A.’s 109-80 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. “But we obviously want to … manage that as best we can.”
James went 0-for-4 on 3-pointers against the Wolves, extending his drought to 0-for-19 from deep in his past four games — the worst he has shot from 3 since he missed 24 straight from Dec. 26, 2003, to Jan. 13, 2004, according to ESPN Research.
James, who played in his 1,800th career game Monday between the regular season and playoffs combined — the most all time by any player, ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,797) — and turns 40 later this month, did not commit either way to continuing to suit up in every game this season.
“That’s a goal, but, we’ll see,” James said. “It’s something I ain’t discussing right now.”
James shot 25% from the field Monday — his sixth straight game shooting below 45%. It’s his longest streak shooting below 45% since 2004, according to ESPN Research, when he failed to hit the mark in 11 straight games as a rookie.
“It’s everything,” James said when asked what is frustrating him about his game at the moment. “It’s the rhythm. I just feel off rhythm the last few, three or four games.”
When asked what he will lean on to get his shot back, James replied: “Work. Just work. That’s all.”
James’ outside shot wasn’t the only thing not working for him against the Wolves. He had a team-high six turnovers and a team-worst plus-minus of minus-28 in 31 minutes. On the season, the Lakers have been outscored by 111 points in the time James has been on the court — the worst plus-minus on the team.
As James has struggled, so have the Lakers. They’ve lost five out of their past seven games, and the 80 points they scored against Minnesota were the fewest the franchise has scored since Jan. 22, 2017, when L.A. lost 122-73 to the Dallas Mavericks.
“I’ve not seen us play the way we played earlier in the year,” Redick said. “I mean, I’ve got to spend all day tomorrow with my staff trying to figure out how we get back to that.”
Anthony Davis also had a season low against Minnesota, totaling just 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting with 11 rebounds and 5 assists. He said L.A.’s players are crowding one another on the offensive end.
“We got to get back into our spacing,” Davis said. “We are kind of on top of each other when guys are trying to drive. When guys are in their spots for shooting, there’s a guy right under them. So the spacing is bad.”
