1.) Contributions across the board
A team is the sum of its parts and this is definitely the case when it comes to how the Lakers are sitting with an 18-3 record.
Generally speaking, a team’s success lives and dies with the performance of the best player(s). But the Lakers, so far, have had different players on the roster step up for different games, in addition to the consistent dominance of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Basically every player on the team has had made a game-changing play at one point or another. Whether it was Danny Green’s game-tying 3-pointer against the Dallas Mavericks or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s clutch threes against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Don’t forget Dwight Howard‘s throwback game against the Charlotte Hornets where he dropped 16 points and 10 rebounds with four blocks on 8-of-8 shooting from the field.
Not to say that other teams don’t have similar contributions from role players, but it’s been refreshing not having to watch James and Davis carry this team from start to finish every single game.
The bottom line is that when one player isn’t feeling it that night, the Lakers have someone else who shoulders the load and makes up for it, which has been absolutely essential for the Lakers’ successful start to the season.