“It’s easy cause he’s a white guy that shoots threes” – JJ Redick thinks people overlooked Luke Kennard’s game

Last evening, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors, 119–103, at Chase Center, persevering with their push for the fourth seed within the Western Conference, which might safe residence-courtroom benefit within the first spherical of the playoffs.

Alongside a sometimes good efficiency from LeBron James, who completed with 26 factors, eight rebounds, and 11 assists, a main contribution as soon as once more got here from Luke Kennard. He ended the game with 16 factors and eight assists, taking pictures an environment friendly 5-of-9 from the sector.

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It marked the third consecutive game during which the 6-foot-5 guard recorded no less than eight assists, a aspect of his game hardly ever related to him all through his profession, regardless of his place, and all of it led JJ Redick to reward Kennard after the game.

“It’s easy because he’s a white guy that shoots threes. To just think he’s just a shooter, that’s just the reality of the situation,” Redick said. “I’m sure every time he checked into an AAU tournament in eighth grade, everybody screamed, ‘Shooter, shooter, shooter!’ That’s the life we have, that’s the life we chose.”

“I watched him a ton at Duke and got to know him during the pre-draft process, had a couple of phone calls with him, just talking through things, and competed against him,” he added. “So I’ve known for a long time there’s a lot to his game, a lot he can do as a basketball player, primarily as a playmaker. He really does such a good job of using his shooting as a threat, using his change of speed and pace as a threat, and just consistently makes the right play.”

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Kennard is main the league in 3-level proportion this season

Kennard has lengthy been thought to be one of the vital deadly shooters within the league, a repute backed by his staggering 44.2 % from past the arc, a mark that locations him second all-time in keeping with “Basketball Reference”. The solely identify forward of Luke? Steve Kerr — who, on this event, may solely watch from the sidelines as Kennard dominated towards his squad.

This season, the previous Blue Devil is taking pictures an absurd 47.7 % from deep on 3.2 makes an attempt per game, main the league and placing him on observe to be remembered as one of many best shooters of all time if he maintains this tempo.

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However, it has turn out to be more and more clear that his game extends effectively past simply taking pictures — one thing Kennard has emphatically showcased within the absence of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. During that stretch, Luke even delivered the primary triple-double of his profession with 15 factors, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.