Kennard shooting ball well, but Lue suggests not enough
Luke Kennard should be leading the league in 3-pointers. But he’s not.
That’s because the Clippers’ guard doesn’t shoot enough compared to the league’s best. For instance, Stephen Curry has attempted 11.6 3-pointers per game and has sunk 131; also, he is shooting 43.4% from deep, which ranks 12th in the NBA.
Kennard, whose 48.9% long-range accuracy is the best in the league, fires just 4.2 3-pointers a game and has a habit of passing up more shots than he should, according to his coach.
“He doesn’t want to be selfish,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “I’m not saying other guys are selfish, but like, if he takes two or three shots in a row, he’s probably looking to move it. So, when he’s on the floor, he has to take those shots.”
Lue was asked where Kennard, who is 43 of 88 from beyond the arc, would rank among the NBA’s premier shooters. He laughingly said 10th out of 10.
“But if you go on makes, he’s at the top, he’s one of the top guys as far as makes” Lue said. “But the other guys, they’re seeking shots and now they’re supposed to shoot the basketball. They don’t turn down shots. So, if you go off that, Luke’s 10th. If you go off makes, he’s at the top two or three.”
It’s a work in progress. Kennard is a smoothshooting two-guard who prefers to put up shots during the flow of a game. If an opponent is closing out, he tends to swing the pass to an open teammate. He doesn’t hunt his shot like most long-range shooters do. It makes sense, he said.
“If I have somewhat of an open shot, but the guy next to me has a wide-open shot, I’m hitting that guy every time,” said Kennard, who sits atop the NBA’s 3-point percentage leaders by 1.3% over Phoenix’s Damion Lee (59 of 124 for 47.6%).
Kennard, however, does step up in the clutch and isn’t afraid of taking the big shot. He is averaging 9.2 points per game, mostly in the Clippers’ small-ball lineup. He made 4 of 8 shots from beyond the arc in Wednesday’s 126-105 victory against the Charlotte Hornets.
He recently returned from a lingering calf injury that caused him to go in and out of the lineup this season. He said he is completely healthy now, which should make it easier for him to be more aggressive.
“There’s definitely opportunities where I can be a little bit more aggressive, maybe come to the ball a little bit more,” Kennard said. “But I’ve said it before, I just want to keep it simple. Make the right team play and let the game just kind of flow, and just see what happens.”
Kennard, though, isn’t a one-dimensional player. Although he identifies as a shooting guard, he can play the point, on the wing and defend. Lue put him on the floor with Nicolas Batum, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard against the Hornets.
Lue said the four provide shooting, defense and spacing. “If we are able to play fast and attack, then we can get any shot we want,” Lue said.
Kennard called the other three elite defenders, allowing him to play off them.
“They kind of set the tone on the defensive end and it allows me to just kind of be in the right positions and just kind of feed off that,” Kennard said. “Then offensively, obviously it’s PG and Kawhi.
“Teams have to honor them, put two defenders on the ball most of the time. Nico’s shooting the ball really well right now and I’ve shot the ball pretty decent so far this season.
“So, credit to PG and Kawhi for trusting us and then making the right passes and me and Nico being ready to shoot, knocking them down. It’s fun playing with them. Being out there with them. I feel like I’m definitely getting a lot more open shots than I have in my career so far.”
Now, Kennard just needs to take them.