Luka Doncic, Lakers
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Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives the ball around Karlo Matkovic #17 of the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on January 06, 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Superstar guard Luka Doncic leads the NBA in scoring, but he has also been one of the worst three-point shooters in the league this season. The Los Angeles Lakers star shot 2-of-9 from three on Wednesday in a 107-91 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, even though he finished with 38 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Through 28 games thus far, Doncic has shot 31.6% from three, tying his career-worst mark from the 2019-20 season, when he maintained the same percentage.
The Slovenian has made only 92 of his 291 attempts from deep this season. Among 46 players in the league who’ve attempted at least 200 threes, Doncic ranks dead-last in efficiency, ahead of Brooklyn Nets‘ Noah Clowney (.324), Charlotte Hornets’ Miles Bridges (.324) and Boston Celtics’ Payton Pritchard (.335).
Luka Doncic Shooting Woes
The concerning part is that Doncic ranks second in three-point attempts per game (10.4) despite being the least efficient volume shooter in the league.
Doncic, a career 35% shooter from three, has never been a knockdown shooter, but his efficiency was significantly better in previous years. During the 2023-24 season, for example, he shot 38% from three and ranked second in the league in made threes. He similarly maintained a decent clip of 37% last season, even though that number dipped to 32% in the second half of the season after the Dallas Mavericks traded him to L.A.
The Slovenian is well aware of his ongoing shooting woes. During Tuesday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans, when he shot 3-of-10 from three, Doncic broke out a big smile when he made two threes late in the game, almost breathing a sigh of relief.
“I’m just smiling, I was happy. I made two threes in a row, I’m just happy. But those are good shots, you know, I gotta keep working on that every day in practice and be confident,” Doncic said in his postgame interview with Spectrum SportsNet.
Luka Doncic Getting to the Line
To Doncic’s credit, he has made a significant adjustment to his game this season to escape his three-point shooting woes. Doncic is attempting a career-high 12.1 free throws per game this year, nearly two more foul shots than his previous best mark of 10.5 in 2023-24. To put things in perspective, he attempted only 7.9 shots at the charity stripe last season, meaning he’s upped his attempts by more than four this season.
Despite Doncic’s poor three-point shooting, he has been instrumental in the Lakers starting the season with a 23-12 record. During Wednesday’s loss, Doncic had to carry an extra scoring and playmaking load due to the absence of LeBron James (injury management) and Austin Reaves (grade 2 calf strain) — and he delivered the goods.
After the game, Lakers guard Gabe Vincent spoke glowingly of Doncic’s leadership.
“Tonight was probably the best [leadership] I’ve seen from him as a Laker,” Vincent said of Doncic, via Thuc Nhi Nguyen of LA Times.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t come up with a win, but he was encouraging, he was uplifting, he made the right read nine times out of 10 down the floor. He was giving us everything he had and encouraging guys along the way.”