The Los Angeles Lakers are making a strong case for being the most unexpected team in the NBA this season. From one game to another, you don’t quite know what to expect from the team that’s defeated some of the best in the league, fallen to some of the worst, and been on both ends of blowouts! This has left the L.A. faithful scratching their head as to what has gone wrong since their red-hot start to the season.

Well, there are several factors contributing to their recent struggles. First is their schedule. If you look closely at the Lakers’ opening games, they benefitted from facing injury-ridden teams such as the Sixers, Pelicans, and the Grizzlies. However, once they started playing on a more level field, their form started to drop, including defeats against contender teams like Denver, Oklahoma City, and Minnesota.

Secondly, their offense, which was arguably the best part of their opening 15 games has dropped significantly in their last ten games. This includes their superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis who have scored 7.4 and 1.3 fewer points respectively. While James and Davis’ poor form has been highlighted, Austin Reaves has also contributed 4.5 fewer points and all three have also seen a steep decline of at least 4 percent in their field goal shooting percentage causing even more problems for rookie head coach JJ Redick.

Lastly, and a rather obvious reason has been a lack of fitness as the Lakers are without Jarred Vanderbilt who recently suffered another setback, and Christian Wood who hasn’t seen the hardwood this season, and Reaves has also missed the last five matchups. Additionally, several other players have also missed games this season. Well, L.A. is struggling but what can they do to get out of this slump? Let’s see.

Can the LA Lakers figure a way out of this slump?

Well, head coach JJ Redick says, “We’ve already started doing some internal auditing,” suggesting the Lakers staff is looking into the matter. But, as of now, many things remain unclear including their trade policy as it is quite evident they need a good supporting cast surrounding LeBron and Anthony.

That might be really helpful, and another factor that boosts their hopes is players getting healthier which will give them much more room to rotate with as they currently lack options in multiple areas on the court. Given James and Davis need a better support cast they also need to bring consistency to their game a quality which they have lacked so far this season.

The Brow perfectly summed up the Lakers this season by saying, “Sometimes we look like a team that can compete with anyone and sometimes we look like a team that looks terrible.” However, with players like Reaves, Vanderbilt, and Wood coming back on the court in a few weeks L.A. will have recaptured some of their success from earlier and work hard to get their season back on track soon or else they might just lose it all together.