Lauri Markkanen is averaging 14.1 shots per game since returning from a right elbow injury, which made his mere six shots in Wednesday's loss to the Nets stand out all the more glaringly.
Markkanen, who had attempted at least 10 shots in each of his previous eight games, took only one shot after the first quarter.
"It's a team thing," coach Jim Boylen said. "We've got to get him the ball. He's a big piece of what we're doing. The team understands that. I'm big on defining roles, letting guys know who I want doing what. The responsibility is on the team, myself and him to be more aggressive, to get more shots, to execute better. If we screen better and execute better, he does better. Everybody does better.
"Obviously, six shots for him is not what we want. The other night he had 17. I kind of like that. Is it going to be 17 every night? I don't know. Can it be 12 and be an efficient night for him? It probably can be. We have to do a lot of things better offensively. We'll continue to work on that."
Markkanen put on 16 pounds of muscle during the offseason, knowing he'd be more of a focal point of the offense this season. He averaged 12.7 shots last season.
"All I care about is winning," Markkanen said. "So whatever I can do to help the team, that's what I'm going to do. If that's letting other guys create, then it's going to be that."
