Austin Reaves’s line about the new Lakers came after a 132-123 comeback in Utah: “We have a team that understands roles and what is asked of them to do,” he said, via Spectrum SportsNet. Two days later Portland scored 136 points in Los Angeles and handed the Lakers their first loss. If the roster fits, Reaves is the proof. The 136 points are the reason to doubt it.
The Pecking Order Has Held
The best evidence for Reaves’s claim is the shot chart, not anything said in a locker room. Luka Dončić has taken 23.0 field goal attempts per game, Reaves sits second with 12.0 despite shooting 63.9% from the field and 61.5% from three, and every other player averages fewer than 10.0 attempts.
A second option shooting that well on half his star’s volume, without forcing more shots, is exactly what “no egos” looks like in practice.
The front office built this group to play off Dončić, and that part is working. Walker Kessler finished with 26 points on 12-of-12 shooting on opening night, and through his first two games he was 22-of-26, mostly feasting off lob passes from Dončić and Reaves.
The supporting cast has accepted its role and still produced. In Utah, Matisse Thybulle made three of his seven 3-point tries, making the Jazz pay for keying on the Lakers’ main threats by camping out in the corner. A starter who takes the shot the defense leaves him and doesn’t ask for more is a sign of fit.
Points Allowed Have Risen Every Game
The trouble is the other end of the floor, and it is getting worse. The Lakers beat Golden State 127-105, then the Clippers 125-117, then Utah 132-123, then lost 136-129 to Portland. That is 105, 117, 123 and 136 allowed, with the number climbing each night.
Utah only needed one quarter to show it. After allowing 47 points in the first quarter, Los Angeles trailed 47-29 after the opening 12 minutes and appeared to be on its way to its first defeat.
Portland did it over a full game. The Blazers shot 59 percent from the field and 50 percent from three, and won behind a balanced attack led by Ja Morant and Damian Lillard.
That loss is the strongest case against the roster, because the stars did their part. Dončić scored 41 and Reaves 26, with 16 assists between them, and it wasn’t enough. When the two creators deliver and the team still gives up 136 at home, accepting roles on offense doesn’t settle anything.
The lineup was picked for defense. The Lakers started Dončić, Reaves, Ziaire Williams, Walker Kessler and Matisse Thybulle in all three games before Portland, so two of the five starters are there mainly to defend.
The offense also has some regression coming. Reaves will not keep hitting 61.5% from three, and Kessler’s finishing dropped off in Utah, where he tallied only two points and seven rebounds against his old team.
The Fit Is Proven on One End
Reaves is right about the part he described. The roles are clear, the shot distribution matches the talent, and four games of scoring between 125 and 132 points is not luck when the first two options are this efficient. On offense, the fit is real.
That was never the hard part. Any roster built around Dončić can score. This one was rebuilt to fix the defense, and four games have produced one good defensive night, against Golden State, when the Lakers forced 16 turnovers and turned them into 25 points.
Since then the defense has gotten worse every game. The fit is proven on offense and unproven, and trending the wrong way, on defense.
The sample is four games, and the worst of those defensive results came against a Portland team that shot unusually well. That is reason to withhold judgment on the defense, not to award the credit early.
November will show which way it goes. If points allowed don’t start falling once Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero are healthy and the wing rotation is set, the roster fits Dončić and doesn’t fit the purpose it was built for.
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