The Lakers have struggled. The Warriors have been as good as any team, ever, to start the season (if not far better).
What can the numbers tell us about how one team’s gone 2-11 and the other’s 15-0, just one win away from breaking the NBA record for best start to a season?
- The Warriors lead the league in shooting percentage on both Catch and Shoot attempts (58.9% eFG) and Pull Up attempts (52.6% eFG%). Steph Curry leads the league in both overall shots made (4.3 per game) and 3-pointers made (2.5 per game) on Pull Up shots.
- Draymond Green ranks second in rim protection (min. opposed 50 shots at the rim this season), allowing opponents to shoot just 37.9% against him.
- Golden State’s small-ball lineup (Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes, Green) is outscoring opponents by 70.8 points per 100 possessions in 56 minutes played together. Their net rating is more than double the next best 5-man lineup.
- Stephen Curry is on pace to shatter his own NBA record for 3s made in a single season (286), with his current rate putting him at 404 after 82 games. He has a league-high 74 threes through 15 games – 24 more than he did at this time last year when he set the record.
- In their most recent win (Nov. 15 vs Detroit), Kobe Bryant flirted with a triple-double with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists. Kobe has 21 career triple-doubles, tied with Russell Westbrook for the third most among active players.
- The Lakers lead the league in pull up shot attempts (27.0 per game), but are shooting just 36.2% on those shots – the fourth lowest effective field goal percentage in the league.
- The Warriors lead the league in shot attempts coming in the first two seconds of a player touching the ball (56.5 per game), while the Lakers rank last in the category with just 40.3 of these shots. L.A. ranks fifth in shots coming after a player holds the ball for 6+ seconds.
- In addition to leading the league in assists (29.4), the Warriors also lead in secondary (hockey) assists with 9.6 per game. The Lakers rank last with just 3.7 secondary assists per game.
