LeBron James may still be an elite player, but he is 38 years old and in his 20th season, which means he has an insane amount of tread on his tires.
He cannot get past his defender and make his way to the basket at will anymore, especially in half-court situations, and he has to conserve his finite energy in order to save such forays for when they’re most needed.
As a result, he has shot 3-pointers more often in recent years. During the regular season, 30.9 percent of his 3-point attempts came from beyond the arc, and last season he attempted a career-high 36.7 percent of his shots from downtown. By comparison, just 25.7 percent of his shot attempts came from 3-point range during the 2017-18 season, which was the season before he came to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Unfortunately, James has struggled all season to hit from distance, connecting on just 32.1 percent of his 3-point attempts, his lowest accuracy in seven years. But more recently, he has improved in that department.
In his last five games, which came in the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors, he made an outstanding 38.7 percent of his 3-pointers on 6.2 attempts a game.
Against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, James and his teammates will need to improve their marksmanship. The Lakers rank just 11th in the playoffs in 3-point accuracy, and among the four remaining teams, they’re by far in last place.
They’re also 10th in points per game in the playoffs, and among the four remaining teams, they’re again in last place.
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Story originally appeared on LeBron Wire