The Los Angeles Lakers have played 19 games and are nearly at the quarter pole of the 2014-15 NBA season. Although there is plenty of basketball left to play, this seemed as good a time as any to dig a bit deeper inside the numbers.
26.0: At 26.0 points per game, Kobe Bryant leads the NBA in scoring. Close behind Bryant are Anthony Davis, 25.2 points per game, James Harden, 25.0 points per game, and LeBron James at 24.6 points per game. Remarkably, at 36 years and counting, Bryant is still able to dominate in the most prominent offensive category. As an added note, Bryant is only 99 points behind Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list.
2.3: Bryant's 35.8 minutes per game draw a great deal of attention, as well they should. However, advanced statistics show that Bryant leads the Lakers in distance too. On average, the 36-year-old is running 2.3 miles per game. Entering Friday's Lakers game against the Boston Celtics, Bryant has already run a team-leading 43.4 miles this season. That ranks 16th in the NBA for total distance run.
112.4: The Lakers' offensive rating is 105.4, which ranks 10th in the NBA. This means the Lakers score 105.4 points per 100 possessions. Unfortunately, the Lakers have a defensive rating of 112.4. In terms of advanced statistics, the Lakers are ranked dead last in defense. Allowing 112.4 points per 100 possessions is also worse than any team averaged a season ago. The Lakers' defensive rating under Mike D'Antoni in 2013-14 was 107.9. In a traditional sense, the Lakers allow 111.1 points per game, which is last in the NBA.
62.9: Ed Davis leads the Lakers in field goal percentage at 62.9 percent. Carlos Boozer is second on the team at 50.7 percent, but that is a healthy margin. On the other end of that spectrum, Ronnie Price is shooting 31.9 percent, meaning Davis is nearly twice as likely to convert on a shot as the point guard.
18.2: The Lakers average 18.2 three-point shot attempts per game. On average, they make 6.1 of those, so the Lakers are shooting 33.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Lakers rank in the bottom 10 in all three of those categories. On the Lakers' current road trip, the purple and gold have increased their shots from distance. The Lakers are averaging 11.0 makes on 23.0 attempts, which come out to 47.8 percent. If the Lakers were able to sustain these types of numbers, they would rank second in the NBA in makes and first in percentage.
