EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — These are the three takeaways from the Lakers' 116-111 loss Saturday to Indiana.
1. The Lakers finally hit some three-pointers.
Their lack of outside touch led to two forgettable games before slightly improving Saturday against the Indiana Pacers.
Even though these seeding games don’t necessarily matter to the Lakers, they were dogged with question marks after making only seven three-pointers in their previous two games. They made 13 of 39 behind the arc Saturday, a step in the right direction despite 33% accuracy and a 116-111 loss.
Quinn Cook was a spark off the bench with 21 points, making five of nine from three-point range. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was two of four behind the arc, as was rookie Talen Horton-Tucker.
Pope was one of several Lakers struggling recently, making only three for 14 from three-point range in seeding games before Saturday.
Saturday’s shooting numbers weren’t anything to brag about, and a loss is a loss even though the Lakers have already clinched the top record in the western conference. This could be the start of something more consistent for the Lakers.
2. One of the players who helped turn around the team's shooting woes was Cook!
To say he's been buried at the end of the bench would be an understatement. He didn’t play in the Lakers’ first restart game, then logged only three minutes over the next two.
Coach Frank Vogel gradually gave him more time since then, with 12 minutes against Oklahoma City, 29 against Houston and 24 on Saturday.
Cook is a 41% career shooter behind the arc, but even he fell into the same swoon as his teammates, missing all five of his three-point tries in the reseeding games before Saturday.
He looked confident with his stroke against Indiana and took part in some productive pick-and-roll sets with LeBron James.
3. Horton-Tucker had 10 points and showed some much-needed outside touch, especially for a teenager in his first NBA campaign.
He spent almost the entire season with the Lakers’ G-League affiliate and appeared briefly in two games for the Lakers last December.
Horton-Tucker suddenly finds himself with more playing time as the Lakers try to develop better consistency. He logged 16 minutes against Indiana and 19 minutes this past Thursday against Houston, where he also scored 10 points.
Horton-Tucker was drafted 46th overall last year by Orlando and traded right away to the Lakers for cash considerations and a second-round draft pick this year. He declared for the draft after his freshman season at Iowa State.
The Lakers envisioned him as a defensive player, in part because of his 7-foot-1 wingspan. He has shown the ability to disrupt passing lanes, totaling four steals against Houston.
Mike Bresnahan is the Lakers analyst for Spectrum SportsNet.