Los Angeles Lakers: 5 takeaways from four-game road trip

1. The Lakers have the best duo in the NBA

There has been a lot of talk about the parity in the NBA this season. For the first time in a long time, the regular season will matter as there wasn’t a heavy favorite heading into the season. There was a healthy debate about which team had the best duo in the NBA, as superstar pairings popped up around the NBA.

Fast forward, and the Los Angeles Lakers have put some of that to bed. They are the best team in the NBA right now, championship favorites and have the best duo in the league, hands down.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis showed on this road trip why the purple and gold have the best two-man pairing in the NBA. Whether it is offensively, with James lobbing alley-oops to Davis, or the two of them blocking opponents shots off the backboard, they are getting it done on both ends of the court.
Just look at their stats during this four-game trip. One of them scored at least 30 points in each game, including a record-setting 41 by Davis against the Pelicans. James produced a double-double in three of the games, while Davis provided two of his own.

James averaged 28.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 0.8 blocks and 1.3 steals during the four games. Davis averaged an identical 28.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.0 blocks and 2.3 blocks during the four-game stretch.

The AD/LeBron connection proved to be too much for these teams to overcome. There were other players that chipped in, but without Davis and James playing at the level they were, these wins would not have come.

While some people will still argue that the Lakers don’t have the best duo in the NBA, the best skill a player can have is availability. Combined, Davis and James have missed only one game this season. That is not something some of the other superstar pairings around the league can say.