Los Angeles Lakers: 7 important statistics through 7 games
By Jason Reed
Los Angeles Lakers offensive statistics:
1. The Los Angeles Lakers rank second in net true-shooting percentage behind the Brooklyn Nets
Again, it is a small sample size but it is no accident that the two teams with the best chance of squaring off in the NBA Finals have the two best true shooting percentages (TS%). The Nets are first with a +.072 net TS% while the Lakers rank second with a +.065 net TS%.
TS% measures shooting efficiency that takes into account the fact that three-pointers and free throws are worth different amount of points. Net TS% takes the team’s TS% and subtracts it from their opponents to indicate how much better they are efficiency-wise.
This is an important stat that is really good for measuring good basketball teams. Eight of the last 10 NBA champions ranked in the top four in TS%, with the two exceptions being the 2019-20 Lakers and 2015-16 Cavaliers, who both happened to have the best player on the planet in LeBron James.
Even those teams were not bad, though. Last season’s Lakers ranked ninth and the 2015-16 Cavs ranked sixth.
2. The Los Angeles Lakers rank second in net offensive rating at +11.1
Another statistic that the Lakers rank second in is net offensive rating. Offensive rating calculates how many points a team scores per 100 possessions, with the net offensive rating being the team’s offensive rating minus its defensive rating (or its opponents’ offensive rating).
A +11.1 net offensive rating is a really big number, even if it second behind the Milwaukee Bucks at +13.5. To put into perspective just how great it is, only four teams in the last 10 seasons have posted a net offensive rating above 10.
The 2014-15 Warriors, 2015-2016 Warriors, 2016-17 Warriors and 2015-16 Spurs.
3. The Los Angeles Lakers are third in three-point percentage at 40.6%
This is a stat that is going to level out and I would be legitimately shocked if the Lakers finished the season above 40% from three. However, the fact still remains that the Lakers have been shooting the rock very well this season and are already much better than they were last year.
Last year the Lakers finished with a 34.9% mark from beyond the arc, which was 21st in the league. They started even worse than that, as through seven games last season they were shooting just 31.7% from beyond the arc.
It is safe to say already that this Lakers team is a much better three-point shooting team, adding yet another dynamic to their game.