Los Angeles Lakers: Lou Williams Is Team’s Most Dangerous Weapon
The reputable sixth man has taken his legend to another level with his explosive play for the Los Angeles Lakers, making Lou Williams their most lethal offensive threat.
One player’s recent upswing in production has resulted in improved team play for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sure, D’Angelo Russell has emerged as quite the clutch player and floor general and Kobe Bryant has regained his legs and is playing like the Mamba of old as of recent.
However, the brunt of the Lakers recent improvement offensively is thanks to one player: Lou Williams.
Related Story: 25 Best Players to Play for the Los Angeles Lakers
The legendary, well-traveled sixth man made quite the splash after earning the starting 2-guard spot in mid-December and has maintained solid play in the role, averaging 17.1 points per game on 45 percent shooting as a starter. However, Williams has elevated to an elite and highly efficient level of play as of late.
So far in the month of January, Williams is averaging 25.6 points per game, which is on pace to be the highest scoring average he’s had at any point in his career and is good for seventh in the league this month.
He’s also had two of the best performances of his career in the last five games, going for 30 points on 64 percent shooting with 10 assists to lead the Lakers to a blowout win over the Phoenix Suns and torching Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 44-point game, including a 30-point eruption in the second half, when he scored 23 of the team’s 28 points in the fourth quarter.
In five games this month, Lou Will has only had one bad night and has been the driving force in a four-game stretch that saw two Laker victories and two losses where the team lost by a combined margin of seven points against tough teams in the Sacramento Kings and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The scariest part is — Williams is just getting warmed up.
More from Los Angeles Lakers
- NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers
- A surprise LeBron ranking should raise alarm bells for the Lakers
- Surprising Austin Reaves contract detail confirms Lakers got him for a steal
- Instant Grades for the Lakers’ unprecedented Anthony Davis extension
- Report: Lakers have big plans for recent top-10 pick amid roster shakeup
Williams’ scoring average (13.8) and shooting percentage (42 percent) in the month of December as a starter were already up from his sixth man averages of 12.9 points per game and 37 percent field goal percentage.
Those numbers have obviously skyrocketed this month (the aforementioned 25.6 ppg on 47 percent shooting) along with his three point percentage (41 percent), free throw percentage (a whopping 91 percent) rebounds (three a game) and assists (2.8).
Williams’ contribution has also helped the team’s offense immensely, as the team has gone from the third-worst scoring offense in November with 94.9 points per game to the ninth-best in January with 101.2 points per game.
But how can we tell that this success is attributed solely to Williams’ recent play?
Well, a look at the stats shows that Williams is currently accounting for 35.9 percent of the Lakers’ points, which ranks third among all starters this month. Williams also provides 55.2 percent of the team’s made three point field goals and ranks seventh among all shooting guards in estimated wins added this season with 3.3.
In effect, Williams has become the Lakers’ first true nightly scoring threat since Bryant’s golden days.
While Bryant goes on his runs early in games and Russell steps up late in them, Williams is the offensive constant, pacing the Lakers’ attack and turning it on when the team needs a boost to stay in the game. He gives the team balance between the rapid-firing Bryant and the unsteady play of its rookie trio; he calms and steadies the offense.
Last month, I said Williams was essential to the Lakers’ current success. With his play this month, he has become the most essential player to that success, even more so than Bryant, Russell or anyone else.
More hoops habit: Every NBA Team's Star Wars Counterpart
Right now, Williams is the team’s best offensive weapon.