LeBron James

Despite being up seven points with under two minutes to play, the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Portland Trailblazers on Sunday, 106-104.

It’s not like we’re sitting here with a lot of lasers on our team.” But pulling up from the logo may not be the best strategy. To be completely honest, we’re not a team constructed of great shooting.

The Lakers three-point struggles are at heart of the 0-3 season start but it was a known issue; Wednesday night sees the live NBA action return as Giannis ...

Once the books are clear of that at the end of this season it should afford Pelinka a little more flexibility but everyone can see how the Lakers are toiling right now and that fact in itself changes the conversation in terms of the value shooters will have for them. The report stated: "While Pelinka has been given the ultimate power to make these decisions, sources say there was a desire for the entire group to come to a consensus. He's nearly 38 and is still one of the most dominant physical specimens in any sport. Despite all of that, in the offseason the Lakers' front office chief was locked into a contract extension which stretches to 2026 – potentially an even more baffling move than the trade for Westbrook, a notoriously bad shooter. Of the players on the current roster to shoot at least six three-pointers this season, not one player has hit at better than a 30 per cent clip. They knew they did not need to close out and guard because their opponents just were not going to make many of the shots. For one person to be in their feelings about when and where and how they should be in the game, I don't have any time for that. It's been proved in the past that if you surround James with shooters, you have a good shot at winning a title (no pun intended). That's the one shot that teams want you to take and want to give up – long twos, contested twos, what have you. Despite having plenty of time to run a play which would allow him to drive to the rim, Westbrook – left unguarded by Jusuf Nurkic, essentially inviting him to shoot, missed a 15-foot pull-up jumper in what he later said was an attempt to go two-for-one. But going 6-for-33 from deep to fall to defeat against a rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers team is just not on for one with a history such as the 18-time champion Lakers. Westbrook finished with 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting, and the Blazers' key 10-point surge to take the lead came after the former MVP was subbed back into the game with 4:42 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James didn't comment on Russell Westbrook's shot selection in the loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

After the game, Westbrook explained he made the questionable crunch-time play to put the Lakers in a two-for-one situation. It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more! “I can tell that you guys are in the whole Russell Westbrook category right now. We were able to get a couple but we couldn’t get multiple stops in a row. “Shot selection is always a part of the game no matter if it’s the last couple minutes of the game or the first two minutes of the game,” the Lakers All-Star said. “I feel like we were getting some of the same shots that we were getting, obviously just didn’t make them,” James said.

The Los Angeles Lakers are following in their last season's footsteps, starting the new campaign slowly. After the latest loss against the Portland Trail .

"We can't shoot a penny in the ocean," LeBron James told reporters following the Lakers' third loss in a row. The only team to do worse was the 2018 Atlanta Hawks with 21.0%. "But it hasn't stopped us from competing or defending.