The Lakers, like all NBA squads, are navigating the early days of the season, where the data is still rather sparse. With just a week and a half into the 2026-27 NBA season, it could take a little while longer—perhaps until Thanksgiving—for teams to truly get a sense of their strengths and weaknesses.
However, even in this initial phase, the Lakers have already begun to reveal their character after a 4-1 start. Here are five noteworthy stats from their first five games as they prepare for their matchup against the Warriors in San Francisco:
60.4
This is the combined scoring average of the Lakers’ standout backcourt duo, Luka Doncic (36 points per game) and Austin Reaves (24.4 points), making them the most prolific pair of teammates in the league right now.
Considering their impressive passing numbers—Doncic at 8.3 assists and Reaves at 5.4—they’re not only among the top ten players averaging 24 points and five assists but also the only teammates achieving this feat.
It’s really no shock to see Doncic and Reaves meshing so well. Last season, they averaged a staggering 62.7 points and 17.1 assists during the Lakers’ 10-4 stretch when LeBron James was absent.
Even during a 16-2 run late last season, they averaged 58.1 points and 13.1 assists. While it’s probably unrealistic to think they’ll match the all-time high-scoring duo of Wilt Chamberlain and Paul Arizin, who averaged 72.3 points in a season, being the highest-scoring duo since the NBA-ABA merger could be possible. For context, James Harden and Russell Westbrook’s 61.5 points per game during the 2019-20 season with the Rockets is currently the mark to beat.
122.5
Given Doncic and Reaves’s combined offensive talent, the Lakers had high expectations for their offensive capabilities this season. And they’ve certainly delivered.
Their offensive rating ranked third in the league entering Thursday, just behind the Trail Blazers and Rockets. They’re excelling in various stats, leading in true shooting percentage (65.8%), effective field goal percentage (61.7%), and 3-point percentage (39.2%), while also sitting second in halfcourt offensive rating (106.6).
64.5
This number represents the Lakers’ defensive rebounding percentage, which unfortunately ranks as one of the lowest across the league. It’s not surprising to see struggles on defense when starting center Walker Kessler is not on the floor.
What’s somewhat unexpected, however, is that when Kessler is on the court, the Lakers still perform worse in defensive rebounding compared to when he’s on the bench, collecting 10.4% more defensive boards when he’s not playing—a trend that likely won’t last. Coach JJ Redick pointed out that Kessler needs to step up in this area, particularly on the defensive glass.
7th
That’s the Lakers’ ranking in terms of both offensive transition frequency and points scored per transition possession, a commendable improvement from last season when they were more moderate in this area, despite losing LeBron James, a legendary transition player.
Redick noted that they’ve been doing a good job of quickly pushing the ball forward and creating opportunities for easy points, which helps with the early cross-matches that make things more manageable.
65.2%
This percentage indicates how opponents have fared when shooting against the Lakers at the rim. While it’s an average stat compared to the rest of the league, it’s still a notable upgrade from last season’s troubling figure of 71.5%, which was the second-worst in the league.
