113.0 - One week into the 2015-16 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers have the worst defense in the NBA. In traditional terms, the Lakers have allowed an average of 116.8 points per game. That ranks 30th out of 30 teams. In advanced statistics, the Lakers have a defensive rating of 113.0, which also ranks 30th out of 30 teams. What is defensive rating? Well, for every 100 possessions the Lakers defend, they allow 113.0 points. A season ago, the Lakers finished second to last in the category with a defensive rating of 108.0. The Golden State Warriors led the league in 2014-15 with a rating of 98.2, and the Warriors have improved on that number with a 2015-16 rating of 88.5. The Lakers are a long way off.
106.8 - Fans may complain about the Lakers' use of the Princeton offense, but LA has not had problems scoring the basketball through the first four games of the 2015-16 season. The Lakers currently average 106.8 points per game, which is good enough for fifth best in the NBA. For a more accurate assessment, the Lakers have an offensive rating of 100.9, meaning the Lakers score 100.9 points per 100 possessions. That rating is good enough for 13th best in the NBA.
49,633 - Jordan Clarkson has been Byron Scott's primary race horse early in the season. With Kobe Bryant on limited minutes, Julius Randle still being carefully watched after a broken leg last season and D'Angelo Russell slowly adjusting to the NBA, Clarkson has been the Lakers' most active player in several different ways. Quite literally, Clarkson has moved about more than any other Laker by running an average of 2.4 miles per game. In all, Clarkson has already run 49,633 feet through the first four games of the 2015-16 Lakers' season. Sadly, all that running has produced zero victories for the purple and gold.
20.6 - Kobe Bryant is currently averaging 8.5 three-pointers at a clip of 20.6 percent. That's not good. Bryant attempted 13 three-pointers in the season opener and tried eight long range bombs in the second and third game. In Tuesday's loss, Bryant brought the number of long range attempts down to five, but he still only made one. Thus, he shot 20.0 percent for the game, which is about his season average. If Bryant is shooting over 50 percent of his shots from beyond the arc and averaging one make per five shots, it doesn't take a scientist to figure out why this formula is not producing results. At some point, though, Bryant will probably start hitting three-pointers. After all, he's getting plenty of practice.
