Since winning the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament just over a month ago on December 9th, 2023, the Los Angeles Lakers have been a completely different team. Despite a slowish 3-5 start to the season which included a 3 game losing skid, the Lakers maintained a 14-9 record after their mid-season celebration, 15-9 if you count the In-Season Tournament’s championship game (which the NBA does not). The purple and gold started December on a 3-game win streak which had launched them into 4th place in the western conference, trailing just the 1st place Minnesota Timberwolves, 2nd place Oklahoma City Thunder and 3rd place Denver Nuggets.
Despite all of the early season success, the change in fortune was drastic and almost immediate considering they’re 5-12 since winning the In-Season Tournament and have fallen 7 spots in the western conference standings all the way to 11th. They’re now a half of a game behind the Houston Rockets who hold the final spot in the play-in tournament.
Rough Times on the Road
Road wins have been increasingly difficult to come by for the Lakers, at just 6-14, their road efforts are not only underwhelming, but showing no signs of improvement.
Lakers Road Records by Month:
October: 0-2
November: 4-5
December: 2-6
January: 0-1
TOTAL: 6-14
Only 6 wins in 20 road games for a team that had 2023-24 NBA Championship odds hovering as low as +1200 prior to the season’s first tip off, and a team I had 5th in my (admittedly far too early) preseason power rankings. They haven’t managed a win in hostile territory since December 23rd in Oklahoma City against the Thunder, and are 0-3 as visitors since.
Thankfully they’ll play the Thunder again tonight, and this time in Los Angeles at the Staples Center at 10:30 PM EST, where they’re a solid 13-7 as we sit almost halfway through the season.
Decent Defence
On the defensive end the Lakers have found success, mainly through the ball stopping, shot blocking force that is Anthony Davis. Davis is 3rd in the NBA in blocks per game with 2.6, and trails only 7’4″ rookie Victor Wembanyama who has 3.1 per game, and 7’1″ Milwaukee Bucks vet Brook Lopez who’s at 2.9 per contest.
The Lakers’ defensive rating has been solid and is currently 12th in the league, and it’s tough to argue that’s not the main reason their season isn’t in complete anarchy just yet.
Bad Offence
Despite being 6th in the NBA in team pace and assist %, and 8th in both field goal % and total assists, the Lakers are just 23rd with an abysmal offensive rating somewhere between 112 and 114, depending who you ask. Despite the lack of specific decimals, it’s notable that an offensive rating in that ballpark leaves you very close to the company of the Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trailblazers, and the Ja-less Memphis Grizzlies.
So how does a team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis that produces so many assists and open looks at such a high pace find themselves outside of what’s already a newly extended playoff/play-in picture?
Horrendous from Deep
The main culprit, and gigantic eyesore on the Lakers stat sheet is their 35.8% team 3 point field goal percentage, which is 21st in the NBA, and the fact that they hit an NBA 3rd-worst 10.9 3s per contest, ahead of only the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons. The Lakers are the only team in the NBA without a player shooting above 40% from deep, not one.
The lack of long ranged offence not only allows the opposing defences to sag and help, but it directly impacts the Lakers’ ability to collect offensive rebounds, leaving them with just 8.4 per game, 29th in the NBA.
Turnover Troubles
Likely a direct result of their high pace of play, but despite that the Lakers turn the ball over an average of 13.9 times a game, leaving their turnover ranking as low as their offensive rating, which as previously mentioned is 23rd in the NBA.
Though primary ball handler LeBron James has his season turnover rate .2 below his 3.5 per game career average, it’s the other supporting ball handlers who have chipped in to, shall we say, share the turnover burden.
Lakers Players Turnovers Per Game:
LeBron James: 3.3
Anthony Davis: 2.3
Austin Reaves: 2.2
D’Angelo Russell: 1.9
Christian Wood: 1.2
Taurean Prince: 0.9
Cam Reddish: 0.9
High Strength of Schedule
According to Tankathon the Los Angeles Lakers have the NBA’s 9th most difficult remaining strength of schedule, meaning they’ll already be fighting an uphill battle in the season’s second half, digging themselves a playoff hole to start the season is not ideal for the King and co..
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