Los Angeles Lakers: A new era has officially begun for the Lakers

A new era has officially begun under Anthony Davis and LeBron James for the Los Angeles Lakers

A few games into the 2019-20 NBA season, and it’s safe to say the Los Angeles Lakers are back, back to a spot where they can feel comfortable with how the team is run.

LeBron James and company are playing with a good enough chemistry that can leave fans optimistic about the bright future. There is no uncertainty surrounding the team right now, just a case of when are some players going to return from injury. And finally, no turmoil creeping out from the Los Angeles media. The “Lake Show” is officially back.

Sitting at 3-1 with the lone loss coming to in-state rival Clippers, everything appears to be alright. Even though the opening day loss stings because it was to the little brother Clippers there is no reason to panic. There does need to be some adjustments made specifically to the offense and how it is run.

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The team is responding well to coach Frank Vogel while he plays around with different lineups. What has been working is the lineup of James, Avery Bradley, Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anthony Davis. This lineup in the short amount of time they’ve been on the floor together has posted a 125 offensive rating and 90 defensive rating (through the first three games).

When James and Bradley step off the floor and back-up point guard Quinn Cook and big man Dwight Howard come in, that lineup posts the highest net rating out of all the lineups thrown together by coach Vogel.

What caused the Lakers to falter against the Clippers was the latter stretch of the 4th quarter where shots were hard to come by. On the defensive side, too many double teams led to open 3’s. They patched it up in the next game shutting down the Utah Jazz to only 86 points. Holding the team to a paltry 41 percent from the field.

Next in town was the Hornets who possessed upbeat energy, coming out in the first quarter going bucket for bucket with the Lakers. Eventually, they couldn’t maintain the scoring because of the stingy defense. The thing about the Lakers and the outlook for the rest of the season is they possess enough defensive-minded players on the team to get the job done. The offense will come once everybody is healthy (Rajon Rondo and Kyle Kuzma) and as the chemistry gets better.

A couple of things that need to be addressed regarding the Lakers is Caldwell-Pope’s early cold stretch of shooting, Vogel’s need to play Alex Caruso more and whether Davis best fit is at the 5 or playing alongside another big man.

These first three games have given fans a sense of comfortability, something they haven’t had since Kobe Bryant pre-injury. They know what they are going to get night-in night-out even if the Lakers don’t come out on the winning side.

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This is a new era. This season will determine if Davis re-signs for the next couple of years. But forget the future, it is about right now and so far the Lakers are giving Los Angeles hope for a better future.

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