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LeBron James chats with Rui Hachimura during a break against Oklahoma Thunder at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
The Los Angeles Lakers ranked a mediocre 23rd in the league in three-pointers made (11.8) and 16th in 3P% (35.9) during the 2025-26 regular season. However, Rui Hachimura emerged as one of the league’s most efficient shooters, averaging 1.7 made threes per game at an excellent 44.3% clip.
Hachimura was so efficient that he ranked fourth in the NBA among all players who attempted at least 3.5 threes per game. Only Bobby Portis (45.6%), Cam Spencer (44.9%) and Jaylon Tyson (44.6%) shot the ball better than the Lakers forward.
In the process, Hachimura set a new Lakers franchise record as the most efficient three-point shooter over the course of a season, eclipsing the previous benchmarks set by Vladimir Radmanovic (44.1% in 2008-09) and Steve Nash (43.8% in 2012-13).
Hachimura Steps Up in New Role
During the season finale against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, Hachimura shot 60% from deep, bringing his overall season tally to 116 threes on just 262 attempts.
Even more impressively, Hachimura made 11 threes at a clip of 60% in his last five games to end the season on a strong note. Incidentally, the Japanese-American player started the final five games of the season after Luka Doncic (hamstring strain) and Austin Reaves (oblique strain) were sidelined with injuries.
With Doncic and Reaves not expected back for the first round of the playoffs, Hachimura is a shoo-in to retain his starting role next to Deandre Ayton, LeBron James, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard.
NBA Playoffs: Lakers vs. Rockets
Looking ahead to the first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, Hachimura wants to step up defensively, drawing inspiration from the team’s best defensive player, Marcus Smart.
“I know the playoffs is a totally different game, every year I learned that,” Hachimura said after Sunday’s 131-107 win, via Lakers beat writer Ryan Ward.
“Literally, the first game of the playoff is, is the next day is like, really sore, because how physical we get and I think that, especially, we play Houston, right?
“Houston’s a very physical team, athletic team, so we gotta be ready for that. I think that having Marcus back, he helps and we’re gonna be ready for them.”
Lakers head coach JJ Redick said his shorthanded team is ready for a battle.
“The playoffs to me are all about resiliency,” he said, via LakersNation.
“The team that is unwilling to let go of the rope for the longest time obviously will win the series.”
On facing Houston, Redick said, “There’s no easy matchup. Houston is obviously a really good basketball team. We’re going to prepare and fight and try to win the series.”
Game 1 of the Lakers vs. Rockets playoff series tips off at 5:30 p.m. local time at the Crypto.com Arena. The Rockets open Game 1 as -4.5 favorites, while the Lakers are massive +550 underdogs to win the series, per ESPNBet.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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