{"id":785452,"date":"2026-05-10T01:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/785452\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T01:00:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:00:28","slug":"lakers-drop-remarkable-playoff-news-on-star-before-game-3-vs-thunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/785452\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Drop Remarkable Playoff News on Star Before Game 3 vs. Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"LOS\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 25: Luka Doncic #77 and Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers react during a 135-118 Lakers win over the LA Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on November 25, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> will be back at Crypto.com Arena for playoff action against the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> in Game 3 tonight.<\/p>\n

The Thunder lead 2-0 in this Western Conference semifinals, and the Lakers need to win to come out of the elimination hole. The same hole they encountered last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A strong showing tonight could shift momentum and give Los Angeles life heading into Game 4 in two days. The focus is on winning tonight.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Lakers Reveal Incredible Milestone<\/b><\/p>\n

Ahead of Game 3, the Lakers highlighted a historic stat on forward Rui Hachimura<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

GettyLos Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura warms up. (Photo by Luiza Moraes\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The franchise announced<\/a> its pregame \u201cThree Things to Know,\u201d presented by GlobeLife, via social media Saturday evening. Hachimura\u2019s remarkable playoff shooting efficiency was spotlighted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRui Hachimura ranks No. 1 all-time in playoff 3-point percentage at 51.1%,\u201d the Lakers wrote on X.<\/p>\n

Hachimura has appeared in the postseason across five different campaigns. In his debut playoff run with the Washington Wizards<\/a> in 2020-21, he shot 60.0% from beyond the arc in five games. After being traded to the Lakers in January 2023, Hachimura has suited up for more postseason games.<\/p>\n

Hachimura had a decent first-round series against the Houston Rockets<\/a>, shooting 58.6% from 3, and has now pushed his career playoff 3-point percentage to the top of the historical list. The historical list contains the likes of Stephen Curry<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hachimura joined the Lakers from the Washington Wizards in 2022. He started with a bench role initially but he now has more starting roles.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the two second-round games played so far, Hachimura is averaging 17.0 points while shooting over 53.8% from the field and north of 56.5% from three.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lakers relied on LeBron James<\/a> for most parts of this series and the support core did their bit in the first round. This second round has proven to be a much tougher task.\u00a0<\/p>\n

High Stakes In Game 3 as Lakers Fight To Avoid 0-3 Deficit<\/b><\/p>\n

Hachimura\u2019s stat line wouldn\u2019t put any gloss over the Lakers\u2019 performances in the first two games of this series. Game three is essentially a make or mar one for L.A.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Falling behind 3-0 will make a conference finals qualification tricky for the Lakers. No team in NBA<\/a> playoff history has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a series. It doesn\u2019t look like it will be happening in this round.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

GettyLos Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James<\/a><\/p>\n

The Thunder has covered both ends thanks to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> and Chet Holmgren<\/a>. They are yet to drop a game yet in this postseason and don\u2019t look like dropping one anytime soon.<\/p>\n

There is no Luka Doncic<\/a> yet, which means more offensive responsibilities shared for the team. Austin Reaves<\/a> made a timely return in Game 5 of the previous round but looked rusty until Game 2 of this round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lakers guard scored a playoff career-high 31 points on the night even though it wasn\u2019t enough for the win.<\/p>\n

Hachimura scored 16 points in that Game 2, together with four rebounds and two assists. If the Lakers are to rely on shooting from range, Hachimura could be that guy. He made seven of his 13 attempted 3-pointers in Games 1 and 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tip off is tonight as the Lakers will aim to put a win on the board.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/strong><\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 25: Luka Doncic #77 and Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":785453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-785452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116547579315711592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}