How the Lakers Can Improve After 10 Games Through the 25-26 Season
After last night’s terrible 122-102 loss against the Atlanta Hawks, the Los Angeles Lakers are 7-3 to begin the 2025-26 NBA regular season. After 10 games, they are fourth in the Western Conference, behind the first-place and reigning NBA Champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Denver Nuggets. Last night was one of the worst games the Lakers played all season, as they lost their first road game and trailed by 30 points at one point. Apart from last night’s loss, the purple and gold have been playing fantastic basketball, especially with injuries affecting them.
To begin the season, Luka Dončić is averaging 37 points, 10 rebounds, and about 10 assists per game in the six games he has played. Last night was a season-low game for him; in 27 minutes, he scored 22 points and dished 11 assists. He has not been on the court with other Lakers star Austin Reaves since November 2nd, when the purple and gold won a tough battle 130-120 against the Miami Heat. Reaves is averaging 31 points and nine assists per game; however, he has missed the past three games due to a groin injury. Even though LA has not had its two stars play together in a week, other star player LeBron James has yet to make his season debut for year 23, as he has still been dealing with sciatica and is expected to be available towards mid-November. Since Dončić and Reaves have been playing outstanding basketball to begin the season, when LBJ comes back from his injury, he may need to step back and turn into a third scoring option for the Lakers for the first time in his career.
Luka and AR-15 are not the only players doing well for the Lakers; we have seen Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart step up in the starting lineup. Off the bench, Jaxson Hayes, Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, and Nick Smith Jr. have used injuries as an opportunity to step up in big games and play key minutes to close out games. The team has done a great job scoring on the offensive end, with multiple players scoring the ball without Dončić and Reaves. On the defensive end, they have been playing well, with great half-court rotations and Smart constantly giving opposing star players a harder time scoring. The purple and gold do need help staying out of foul trouble, and they need to make their free throws, as they have struggled with that throughout the season. However, they are in excellent hands to begin the regular season. Even without King James in what could potentially be his last NBA season ever, going into their second game of a five game road trip against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, the Lakers are playing fantastic basketball on both ends after 10 games, and if they continue to do this throughout the season and the playoffs, do not be surprised to hear the Los Angeles Lakers competing for their 18th NBA Championship.
