Google News LeBron James addresses Lakers' poor shooting night versus Clippers
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LeBron James made it clear that he wasn't interested in complaining following another rough shooting night for the Los Angeles Lakers. After going 10-of-40 from beyond the arc against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, the Lakers were somehow even worse two nights later as they shot 9-of-45 from the three against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Lakers couldn't overcome such a poor shooting night as the Clippers handed them a 103-97 defeat. After the Lakers' loss to the Warriors, James noted his team didn't have "lasers" on the roster. "I'm definitely not going to sit here and harp on what we can't do every single game.
That's not a leader. What I know we can do? We can defend our ass off. We did that tonight, which gave us an opportunity to win and we just couldn't make it happen. But, I'm OK with that," James said, per ESPN.
James optimistic the shooting will get better
James feels the Lakers' shooting will get better, but underlined that itself won't solve all of their problems as he has emphasized the importance of good defense.
"If we're reliant on [sufficient outside shooting] every single game, then we're in trouble," James said. "So I'm not worried about that or thinking about that. It's how hard we play, how aggressive we play, how determined we are to go out and compete every night.
And we got to defend. When we defend, we're going to give ourselves a good chance to win." One Laker had a particularly rough night - Russell Westbrook. Westbrook, who was heavily criticized for his play last season, went 0-of-11 from the field against the Clippers.
After the game, James was asked whether he had any advice for Westbrook. "Just flush it down the toilet and get ready for Sunday," James said, when asked whether he had any advice for Westbrook. "He's a veteran. We've all had bad shooting nights.
I've had bad shooting nights. Everybody in this league has had bad shooting nights. Who cares? I thought he played a great game. Defensively he was in tune. He was locked in. He pushed the tempo. He just didn't make any shots, and that's OK." The Lakers have now started the year with a 0-2 record. On Sunday, the Lakers will be hosting the Portland Trail Blazers.
