The backcourt pairing of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves has been the defining story of the Los Angeles Lakers so far this season. Doncic — No. 1 in scoring at 35.1 points per game — and Reaves — No. 9 in scoring at 28.8 — are by far the highest-scoring duo in the NBA this season. Their combined 63.9 points per game sit over 10 points above the next-best duo, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets.
And their efficiency has led the Lakers to a 15-4 start, good enough for second in the Western Conference and in the midst of a seven-game win streak. The Lakers are one of the most well-rounded offenses in the NBA, ranking No. 5 in offensive rating and second in true shooting percentage.
After a night in which the Lakers scored 133 points against the New Orleans Pelicans, Reaves spoke about what is working in the team’s offense, despite his own personal critiques.
“Luka scored 20 in the first quarter,” Reaves said. “[He] made a lot of shots, made a lot of plays and then everybody did a good job taking care of the ball, besides myself. Five turnovers is way too many. I think three or four of them is just bad. Just me being bad.
“If I take care of the ball, we probably [would] have four turnovers and might have scored 145, but the first quarter was good. Obviously, Luka’s one of the best first quarter players. He’s one of the best players in the league, but, obviously, [in the] first quarter he comes out and [makes] a statement. He gets our offense rolling.”
Reaves then shifted his focus to the pairing of him and Doncic — who made history on Sunday night — and why that has been working so well this season.
“He draws a lot of attention and then I’m able to play advantage basketball, basically, on the backside of that,” Reaves said. “[With] the gravity that he has on the court, it’s impossible to guard him any certain way because of his ability to pass the ball, his unselfishness and his shot making ability. Once you blitz him, then you have ‘advantage basketball’. We like our chances. I thought we got a lot of really good looks that we didn’t make tonight. We still scored 130. I still think this offense can go to another level.”
Luka’s gravity on the court is well-documented, but Reaves has created significant gravity of his own with the way he has played to begin the season. The two of them have opened up everyone else on the Lakers to have remarkable shot quality, giving them chances to score 133 while leaving some on the table, as Reaves says.
If the Lakers can continue to score at this rate behind Doncic and Reaves, their ceiling should be very high against some of the other top teams in the league.
JJ Redick sees room for improvement with Lakers
The Lakers are off to a better start to the 2025-26 season than just about anybody predicted. Head coach JJ Redick has the Lakers at 15-4 through 19 games, good enough for a 65-win pace and second in the Western Conference as of Monday, Dec. 1.
However, there are certainly things to point to that signal a potential regression to the mean. L.A. does have the No. 5 offense in the league, but their defense ranks 17th. Their net rating of 4.1 puts them at 12th in the league, right around the Boston Celtics (11-9) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (12-9). Their turnover rate ranks 23rd, and their assist-to-turnover ratio is 21st.
Despite coming off a blowout win over the shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night, Redick recognizes all these factors and knows there are things to be happy about and things to improve on.
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