The Lakers, like every other NBA team, are operating under small sample sizes.
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Lakers → operate → sizes
And with the 2026-27 NBA season just 1 ½ weeks old, that’ll be the case for at least a few more weeks until teams get closer to Thanksgiving.
But a team’s first few games are informative, and the Lakers have already provided enough information to show the type of team they’ll be – their areas of strengths and concerns after a 4-1 start.
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they → get → start
Here are five standout statistics from the Lakers’ first five games entering Friday’s NBA Cup Group Play matchup against the Warriors in San Francisco:
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statistics → enter → Francisco
That’s the combined amount of points the Lakers star backcourt of Luka Doncic (league-leading 36 points per game) and Austin Reaves (24.4 points) are averaging so far this season, making them the highest-scoring pair of teammates in the league.
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them → ’ → league
Factor in their passing (Doncic with 8.3 assists; Reaves with 5.4) and they’re not only two of the ten players in league who were averaging 24 points and 5 assists entering Thursday, but also the only pair of teammates in the league doing so.
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who → factor → league
Doncic and Reaves working so well together, while also producing gaudy stat lines, isn’t surprising.
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working → work → lines
They combined to average 62.7 points and 17.1 assists during the Lakers’ 10-4 start to last season while LeBron James was sidelined.
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James → combine → season
The star guards also averaged 58.1 points and 13.1 assists during the Lakers’ 16-2 stretch in the late winter/early spring.
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guards → average → winter
It’s unlikely Doncic and Reaves will come even close to being the highest-scoring duo in a season.
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Doncic → ’ → season
The record of 72.3 points, which is held by Wilt Chamberlain (50.4 points) and Paul Arizin (21.9 points), seems unbreakable.
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which → hold → Chamberlain
But being the highest-scoring duos in a season since the NBA-ABA merger (1976) isn’t out of the question.
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being → score → question
James Harden and Russell Westbrook, who combined for 61.5 points per game while with the Rockets in 2019-20, currently hold that distinction.
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who → combine → distinction
Considering the aforementioned combined offensive firepower of Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers entered the season with expectations of being an elite offensive team.
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Lakers → consider → expectations
Their offensive rating entering Thursday ranked third in the league behind the Trail Blazers (126.8) and Rockets (122.5).
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rating → enter → Blazers
They were at the top or near the top in several offensive categories, including true shooting percentage (65.8%; No. 1), effective field goal percentage (61.7%; No. 1), 3-point percentage (39.2%; No. 2) and halfcourt offensive rating (106.6; No. 2).
64.5
That’s the Lakers’ defensive rebounding percentage, which ranked as the third-worst mark in the league.
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which → include → league
It hasn’t been surprising to see the Lakers struggle on the defensive boards when starting center Walker Kessler hasn’t been on the court.
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Kessler → see → court
What’s been the most surprising is that the Lakers have actually been a worst defensive rebounding team with Kessler on the court compared to the bench.
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Lakers → compare → bench
They’ve collected 10.4% more defensive rebounds with Kessler off the court – a trend that likely won’t continue.
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that → collect → trend
“Where he can continue to grow with us, he was, like per 36 numbers, per minute numbers, he’s not rebounding at the rate [we expect],” coach JJ Redick said.
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Redick → continue → rate
“And obviously that’s an area of concern for us right now.
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that → ’ → us
So need to be him doing better, particularly on the defensive glass.
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him → need → glass
That’s where I think he can give us the biggest boost right now defensively.”
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he → ’ → boost
7th
That’s where the Lakers ranked in terms of offensive transition frequency and points per transitiion possession after being more middle of the pack last season.
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Lakers → ’ → pack
This is despite losing LeBron James, one of the best transition players in league history.
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This → lose → history
“Doing a decent job of throwing the ball ahead,” Redick said.
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Redick → do → ball
“And I think [we] have had some really good moments of sprinting for layups.
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we → think → layups
The other thing I think we’ve done a decent job of and part of it is the throws aheads: By throwing the ball ahead and by running, you create early cross-matches.
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you → think → matches
65.2%
That’s the percentage opponents are shooting against the Lakers at the rim.
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opponents → ’ → rim
While it’s an average number compared to the rest of the league, it’s a significant improvement from last season’s mark of 71.5%, which was the second-worst mark among all 30 teams.
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which → ’ → teams
The Aporia
