If they can win away games against the Pacers on Tuesday and the Bucks on Thursday, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers will tie the NBA record for most consecutive road wins (14).
Whether they are able to accomplish that feat or not, the pairing of James and Davis on the Lakers has already proven to be historically great — and the numbers bear that out.
According to Neil Paine of FiveThiryEight, James has already dropped 86 assists to Davis this season, which is“the most by any player to a teammate in the NBA so far, according to data from Second Spectrum.”
Those 86 assists from James to Davis are more than 20 more than the next closest pair of NBA players; Ben Simmons has fed Tobias Harris 63 times this season.
With James ranked second in the league in wins above replacement at 5.6 and Davis tied for ninth with a 3.9 WAR, the Lakers are the only team this season with two players ranked among the top 10.
“There’s no question that the Lakers are better — nearly unstoppable, even — with LeBron and AD playing together,” Paine writes. “Any questions about how well the pair would work together have been eradicated; all that’s left is to wonder how far they can take Los Angeles once the playoffs begin.”
In addition to their current 12-game winning streak away from LA, the Lakers are riding a seven-game overall winning streak and boast the best record in the NBA at 24-3.
“We understand that every game creates its own challenges,” James said after LA’s last win over the Hawks. “And if we don’t come out with the mindset to try to win and execute the right way, we could be beat by anyone no matter what the record. Because we know when we play teams, no matter what their records are — above .500, below .500 — they’re going to give us their best shot and we got that tonight.”
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