Rui - Occasional Digest

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How one aspect of Rui Hachimura’s game reminds JJ Redick of Michael Jordan

Welcome back to this week’s Lakers newsletter, where we are bundling up during the Southeast’s deep freeze.

Snow flurries dusted the ground outside Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday, but the Lakers were heating up. They knocked off the Charlotte Hornets for their sixth win over the last seven games and, after a clunker in Atlanta, vibes are, once again, high.

Austin Reaves returned in the game against the Hornets to help the Lakers inch closer to full health, but after weeks of an ever-changing rotation, we’re going to start on a player known for his consistency.

Prime Rui Hachimura

No one had this comparison on their bingo card this year. Rui Hachimura and M.J. himself? In one key area, at least, it holds for JJ Redick.

“[I] feel like he’s not going to miss a midrange shot right now,” Redick said before the Atlanta game. “It’s like prime Michael Jordan, prime Kawhi Leonard.”

Redick may have jinxed Hachimura, who went three-for-nine against the Hawks when everyone struggled, but the Japanese forward is quietly putting together a career year. He’s averaging 16.3 points per game on 58.6% shooting. His field-goal percentage is the team’s highest for any non-center. With the biggest stars in and out of the lineup because of injuries, Hachimura is one of just three Lakers players to appear in each of the first 11 games.

“One thing we know about Rui is he’s gonna be consistent,” guard Marcus Smart said. “He’s gonna get to his spots. He’s gonna make plays for us, and he’s gonna come in clutch for us.”

Despite the successful start, Hachimura was caught off guard when told of his accomplishments. He had no idea that he had shot better than 50% from the field in every game before the Atlanta dud. The Lakers forward’s eyebrows shot up when he heard that Redick put him and his midrange shots in the same sentence as His Airness.

Because to Hachimura, what he’s doing is just second nature to him.

“Those kinds of shots,” Hachimura said, “that’s why I got here at this point.”

Shooting 52.4% from three, Hachimura has also developed into a certified laser from distance, Redick said. He was shooting 40.2% from three during his Lakers career prior to this season.

Hachimura, who is in the final year of his contract, credited assistant coach Beau Levesque for helping him improve his offensive game, focusing on quicker decision making and smarter shot selection.

While his offensive prowess has been on display all season, he also backed it up Monday with some of the best defense Redick has watched him play. The Lakers held Charlotte — which scored 40 points in the first quarter — to 15 points in the third thanks in large part to Hachimura’s activity. The defensive stats aren’t impressive: one defensive rebound, one steal, no blocks.

But his teammates know Hachimura’s value.

“Nobody talks about him, but he deserves a lot of credit in our wins,” guard Luka Doncic said. “He’s been amazing for us, and the way he plays like every game just helps us a lot, especially to win games.”

10-game statistical check-in

The Lakers led the league in shooting percentage through their first 10 games and, until Sunday’s clunker in Atlanta, were a top-five ranked offense. The source of their offensive power is an unexpected shot.

A graphic showing where the Lakers make their baskets this season.

Entering Sunday’s games, the Lakers led the league with 11.3 attempts from 10-to-14 feet per game. The midrange shot has become the modern NBA’s statistically inefficient black sheep, but it’s been the key to keeping the Lakers afloat during the early season injuries.

The Lakers shot 55.8% from 10-to-14 feet, the league leaders from that distance entering Sunday’s games. When expanded to shooting zones, the Lakers take the second-highest percentage of non-layup two-pointers in the league, trailing only the Sacramento Kings. They also converted them at a scorching 55.9% clip. On two-point shots outside of the restricted area, no other team even cracked 50%.

Of course, this is all small-sample-size theater. Redick doesn’t think this will be the Lakers’ longterm shot profile because the team won’t look like this for long. The Lakers have been without Doncic, Reaves and LeBron James for part of or (in the case of James) all of the season.

Once the Lakers are “whole,” Redick suspects that the team will return to something closer to last year’s final version that ranked ninth in three-point attempts in games after the Doncic trade. Whether the higher quality shots will actually fall would be the next important step: The corner three is the only area from which the Lakers are shooting worse than league average.

Best thing I ate this week

The Swahili Plate with grilled lamb bites from Serengeti Kitchen in Charlotte, N.C.

I can find Tanzania on the map, but that’s the extent of my knowledge about the East African country. I was wholly unfamiliar with Tanzania’s game, and if my first taste from Serengeti Kitchen in Charlotte is any indication, they definitely got food game in that country.

The Swahili plate comes with coconut rice under coconut pinto beans with collard and cabbage and sweet fried plantains. I got the grilled lamb bites and proceeded to text all my friends about my favorite discovery Downtown Charlotte.