Many signs point to this Los Angeles Lakers season being different from last. However, there are also signs pointing to the opposite. Which version will come out on top remains to be seen, as the NBA season is just four weeks old. When it comes to the Lakers, though, this season may come down to who they are away from the Crypto.com arena instead of who they are inside it.
Los Angeles Lakers Season Will Be a Tale of Home Vs Road
Good at Home, So-So on the Road
During ESPN’s NBA Countdown, the Lakers season was put up for debate—more specifically, the contrast between their home and away records. On one hand, the Lakers are playing reasonably well at home. They moved to 6-0 after their win over the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night. On the other hand, their lone road trip accumulated to just one win over the Toronto Raptors on November 01. They dropped their other four road games to the Suns, Grizzlies, Cavaliers, and Pistons, which has them sitting at 1-4 on the road.
Of course, it’s still very early in the season, and JJ Redick has plenty of time to focus on his team’s road discrepancies and correct them as much as possible. Still, the combatting numbers on the road compared to home are glaring. The Lakers point differential at home is +10.8 (121.8 PPG) compared to -10.2 (112.6 PPG) on the road. There have been far too many quarters where the Lakers have lost by double digits. Of course, being blown out in a few games overall hasn’t helped either. Their field goal percentage is also down on the road (45.1%) compared to home (50.4%). The same goes for their three-point shooting on the road (33%) versus home (39.7%).
The contrast is clearly evident, and the Lakers have to adjust for it as they are about to go on a mini two-game road trip to San Antonio and New Orleans. They also travel to Denver and Phoenix over the next 12 days. Last season, the Lakers home-versus-road struggles were one reason they settled for the play-in. At home, they were 28-14; on the road, they were 19-21.
Richard Jefferson Calls Lakers a .500 Road Team
If you ask NBA analyst Richard Jefferson, this ten-game version of the Lakers we’re watching so far is who the Lakers are.
“I think this is the Lakers. I think they’re a team that should be very good at home, and they should be about a .500 team on the road. That puts you in about a 50 win pace, and that’s right where they finished last year. They have a similar roster that they had last year, so when I look at it, yeah, they’re about a 50 win team, 48 win team, so that means they’re gonna be pretty good at home, and then you split on the road…that’s the Lakers.”
The similar roster factor is key here, which Jefferson is right about. Rob Pelinka, Lakers GM, did nothing to upgrade the team over the offseason. D’Angelo Russell opted in, which complicated things to a degree. However, the Lakers still brought essentially the same team back, minus Spencer Dinwiddie and Taurean Prince. Their fortunes have the potential to change, though, which is where Jefferson might not have faith. As we started with at the top, the Lakers do look better in some categories this season. And perhaps their defense and road record will turn the corner in due time. If not, that could spell trouble deeper into the season.
