4 days ago
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For much of this season, Los Angeles Lakers forward Jake LaRavia has been inconsistent and perhaps disappointing, especially on offense. While his effort levels have been acceptable, his efficiency hasn't.
In their last two games, the Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies, the team LaRavia was with for his first two and a half seasons until he was traded to the Sacramento Kings in February 2025. He went off in both games, scoring 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting on Friday and 26 points on 9-of-16 from the field on Sunday.
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It was easily his best two-game stretch thus far this season. After L.A.'s 120-114 victory on Sunday, coach JJ Redick shared what he told LaRavia to encourage the forward to be more aggressive offensively.
“I told him in front of the group after the game, particularly in that first half, his aggressiveness and confidence was really good for us. The thing that we've tried to really instill and coach him on all season is 0.5 decision-making, being catch-and-shoot ready. If you are attacking a closeout and you have an advantage, maintain the advantage. Both of those things require confidence and requires aggressiveness. Just a fantastic game from him. Another good game from him defensively as well with deflections and being disruptive.”
With both Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura out due to calf ailments, L.A. needs multiple players not named LeBron James or Luka Doncic to step up offensively. LaRavia has certainly done that in its last two games, and one can hope that these two stellar performances from him will be a turning point as far as helping him improve his efficiency and overall output the rest of this season.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick on encouraging Jake LaRavia to be aggressive offensively
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