The Los Angeles Lakers entered Sunday's battle against the Utah Jazz with a 2-0 record, but despite LA's strong start, a few warning signs remain.
One of those issues is a high turnover rate for the Lake Show through the first 96 minutes of the season. In Friday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers turned the ball over 21 times, with nine of those giveaways coming in the fourth quarter. Even more concerning was that Luka Doncic alone tallied 11 turnovers in the game (a career high).
Are turnovers a point of legitimate concern for Luka Doncic, Lakers?
Following the game, Luka described his performance as "terrible" while also acknowledging that, more importantly, the Lakers are 2-0. Fair enough. Doncic's running mate, Austin Reaves, accrued six turnovers of his own on Friday. JJ Redick said after the game that, "We know the turnovers are a problem."
Friday wasn't an isolated instance. In the Lakers' opener (a 127-105 win over the Golden State Warriors), LA committed 18 turnovers -- another high figure.
The weird thing about LA's turnovers over the first two games -- particularly from Doncic and Reaves -- is that many of these giveaways happened against light pressure or modest traps. The Lakers have just been careless and lazy with their ball-handling and decision-making.
Some of this is understandable for a team full of new players learning to coexist. Timing and rhythm will surely be off for the first 20 games or so of the season. But you'd expect guys like Collin Sexton (who missed all of the preseason) or Walker Kessler to be showing more signs of rust than Doncic or Reaves. LA's best player has been the one making the most careless errors.
All in all, nearly 20 turnovers per game through the first two contests obviously isn't something sustainable for the Lakers in 2026-27. Doncic is going to turn the ball over here and there due to his aggressive playmaking and sky-high usage, but he should never approach double digits in giveaways, let alone 11.
The good news is that both Doncic and Redick acknowledged the issue on Friday following the game. Sunday's contest offers an opportunity for the Lakers to get the turnover problem under control on the road against Kessler's former team. It's an opportunity to start the new era with a 3-0 record, and the Lakers shouldn't waste that chance with sloppy play for a third consecutive game.
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