LA Clippers Advantage Vs. the Los Angeles Lakers: The Three Point Shooting
When the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers face off, three point shooting may be the deciding factor, and the Clippers have to feel good about their chances if that’s the case.
Much has already been said about the LA Clippers as a three point shooting team. They lead the league in three point percentage at 42%; if the season ended today, the Clips would have the second highest three point percentage of all time, behind the 1996-97 Charlotte Hornets. Conversely, the Lakers sit at 21st in the league in three point percentage at 35.6%.
Compare the following two statements:
- Of the 10 players on the LA Clippers who attempt the most threes, six of them shoot better than 40%, and three are higher than 43%, and none are under 35%.
- Of the 10 players on the Los Angeles Lakers who attempt the most threes, only two are above 40%, none are above 43%, five are below 35% and one is below 30%.
It’s almost the exact inverse, right? Half of the Lakers’ most frequent shooters are below 35%. The majority of the LA Clippers’ most frequent shooters are over 40%.
The LA Clippers need to, and will, use this to their advantage in a potential first round matchup. The Clips can pack the midrange and the paint, which will make life hard for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
But the reverse can’t happen. There’s almost nobody the Lakers can play off of to help on drives and post ups. If they do, the ball will almost certainly find a knockdown three point shooter for an open shot, and the LA Clippers knock those down.
The Battle for LA is always a fun matchup. If it happens in the first round (which would feel very anticlimactic), fans of the LA Clippers have to be excited about the disparity in outside shooting being leveraged to the advantage of the Clips.