Despite the plethora of injuries hounding the Lakers this season, they’ve shown immense resilience and have earned a 7-2 record, currently sitting at the 2nd seed in the West.
A handful of teams throughout the league have had a bad case of the injury bug to start the season, the Lakers being one of them. Luka has missed 4 games, Reaves has now missed 2 in a row due to groin soreness, and LeBron has yet to play. That’s not to mention guys like Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, Gabe Vincent, and Jaxson Hayes who have also missed some time due to nagging injuries.
Yet the Lakers have been able to win games no matter who has been on the court. They’ve won without Luka, they’ve won without Austin, and they even beat the Blazers without either of them. It’s also worth noting that at this moment they remain the only team in the league with an undefeated record on the road at 4-0.
This success not only stems from the superhuman efforts of Luka Doncic (40 PPG, 11 RPB, 9.2 APG) and Austin Reaves (31.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 9.3 APG) but also from the role players excelling in and embracing their roles. Ayton, Hachimura, Smart, LaRavia, Hayes, Smith Jr. and James Jr. have their fingerprints all over the team’s early season success and Coach Redick deserves immense credit for building that culture and belief within his players.
Looking Ahead to L.A.’s Upcoming Five-Game Roadtrip
The Lakers will be away from Crypto.Com Arena for the next week of basketball. They’ll head to Atlanta, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Milwaukee. Hawk’s star Trae Young will be out for Saturday’s matchup due to a strained MCL in his right knee that he sustained on October 29th.
While LeBron has been ruled out for these next five games, he was just cleared for 5-on-5 basketball activity on Thursday and will be reevaluated in 1-2 weeks. The game against OKC will be tough, as they currently sit with the best record in the NBA at 8-1. The hope is for the Lakers to be as healthy as possible for that one, but if we’re to go off of what we’ve already seen from them, they should be able to make that a competitive game.
The Pelicans matchup will be the first night of a back-to-back before they head out to Milwaukee the next day. It will also be game 2 in the NBA Cup Tournament. L.A. is already 1-0 in the tournament after beating the Grizzlies on Halloween night. The Lakers will then cap off their trip against the Bucks and MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.
After proving to be capable of handling business on the road, the Lakers at the bare minimum should be looking to come out of this trip 3-2. The Thunder and Bucks games will be the toughest ones to steal wins from but so far, the theme of this Lakers squad has been their ability to defy the odds.
While the season is still young, L.A.’s best start since the 2020 championship season is not something to be overlooked and right now, we may be seeing the seeds of a championship caliber team.
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