LeBron James' three-point shot has abandoned him

James missed all four of his three-point attempts in a 109-80 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Monday night, including an air ball. That was part of a 6-for-31 shooting performance from deep by the team as a whole. D'Angelo Russell made twice as many threes as the rest of his teammates combined, going 4-for-5 while the other Lakers shot 2-for-26 (7.7% accuracy).

That's the fourth straight goose egg from behind the arc for James, who has missed his last 19 three-point attempts. He was shooting 43% in the season's first 15 games. Now he's down to 34.5% on triples, a big step down from last year's impressive 41%. His 22 points-per-game scoring average is the lowest since his rookie year.

His team isn't doing much better. It shot 21.2% on threes in a 105-104 win over the Utah Jazz Sunday night, with James going 0-for-9. Starting with a 119-118 loss to the Orlando Magic on Nov. 21, the Lakers are shooting under 30% on threes. During that time, they're 2-5 with three blowout losses.

What's the solution? His coach thinks his superstar might need rest, especially after averaging more than five turnovers in his last 11 games. James made playing in all 82 games a preseason goal, but JJ Redick isn't sure he should.

"I don't know that's in the best interest of him and us if he does that," Redick told reporters after Monday's loss. "But if he's feeling well and feeling good, then he should play. But we obviously want to ... manage that as best we can."

The question is whether James' former podcast partner has the power to make him sit if James wants to play. We may see on Wednesday night when the Lakers take their talents to South Beach to play the Miami Heat. 

The Lakers' other star is also mired in a three-point slump. Anthony Davis went 2-for-4 in the win over the Jazz Sunday, but he hasn't made a three in six of his last seven games. Since he shot 10-for-17 during a six-game Lakers win streak, Davis is 3-for-14 in his last eight games.

James probably won't keep putting up air balls, but it's possible that last season's hot shooting was an aberration. With his season average down to 34.5%, it's very close to his career average of 34.8%. Davis still has the best three-point mark of his career at 35.7%, but the Lakers shouldn't count on that to continue either.

Three-point shooting is killing the Lakers. The improvement is going to have to come from other parts of the roster and perhaps by making sure their 39-year-old superstar isn't playing the eighth-most minutes in the NBA anymore.