Led by a season-high 44 points from LeBron James, five Los Angeles Lakers scored in double-figures in a victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, which was the team’s fourth straight win. The previous two games were more of the same, as five also scored at least 10 against the Atlanta Hawks, and six were in double-figures in a win over the Sacramento Kings.
This has been a regular occurrence as Lakers head coach Luke Walton’s team has five players averaging at least 10 points this season, with three others averaging at least eight. Though, one of those — Rajon Rondo — is now set to miss at least four weeks after undergoing hand surgery.
For Walton this is a product of the style he wants his team to play every night. “It tells me we’re playing the way we want to play, and that’s a selfless style of basketball,” he said. “We’ve got to still get better at it. We have too many possessions where I feel like guys are open and we don’t make that extra pass.
“But I think when you get multiple guys scoring in double-figures it means you’re trusting your teammates and they’re doing a nice job of scoring when you get the opportunity.”
Ball movement is a staple of what Walton wants from his team and they are certainly doing that. The Lakers rank fifth in the NBA in assists as a team with both LeBron James and Rondo hovering around the top-10 individually.
James of course, also leads the Lakers’ double-figure scorers with Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, JaVale McGee, and Josh Hart also in that group. Rondo, Lance Stephenson, and Lonzo Ball aren’t far away from that mark themselves.
This is what the Lakers front office envisioned when they put this roster together. With so many playmakers, the ball is constantly moving and players are making the extra pass to get their teammates easy buckets.
As Walton said, there are still improvements that can be made, but the foundation for how to play is there and the Lakers will continue to build on it.
