Lakers' 11-2 start still leaves skeptics asking for a signature win
The Lakers are 11-2 and have won seven straight, but Kendrick Perkins wants a marquee win before he calls them contenders. Next up: Phoenix on Sunday.
The Los Angeles Lakers have won seven straight games, sit at 11-2 and are outscoring opponents by nearly eight points a night. Not everyone is ready to call them contenders yet. Former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins told the "Road Trippin' Show" that he wants to see more before he puts JJ Redick's team in that group, saying the Lakers "haven't got a real signature win yet," according to the New York Post.
Perkins's case rests on the schedule. He pointed to Oklahoma City, Houston, San Antonio and New York as the kind of opponents he wants to see the Lakers beat, and Los Angeles has not played any of them yet. The Post noted that Portland, Golden State and Detroit have been the toughest teams on the Lakers' slate so far. Those are also the teams behind both losses: a 136-129 home defeat to the Trail Blazers and a 112-95 loss at Golden State.
The Lakers have answered both of those. They beat Portland 124-118 in the rematch, and they have not lost since the night in San Francisco. The Post framed the start as the first real test of the post-LeBron James era, with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves carrying the team. ClutchPoints reported that one of the two has led the Lakers in scoring in 12 of 13 games. The only exception was Quentin Grimes, who scored 23 points against the Clippers on Oct. 28.
That partnership is now in question. Both stars left Wednesday's 123-112 win in Milwaukee with injuries. Doncic had an ankle scare, and Reaves hurt his heel in the second half. The news since then has been mostly good. ClutchPoints reported that Redick said Doncic is fine for Sunday's game at Phoenix, while Reaves and Collin Sexton are listed as day-to-day. Grimes took part in the team's stay-ready game.
What it means for Sunday in Phoenix
The numbers support the skeptics less than the eye test might. Los Angeles is averaging about 122 points and allowing about 114, a margin of roughly plus-7.9 per game across 13 games. The Lakers are 6-1 on the road and 5-1 at home. They have also won the first three games of this trip, at Detroit, Atlanta and Milwaukee, and topped 120 points in each. Six of the 11 wins have come by single digits, though. That fits Perkins's view that the record has not yet been tested by a heavyweight.
Phoenix will not be the marquee opponent he is asking for. ClutchPoints had the Suns at 5-6 going into the weekend. Still, a road game on the last stop of the trip, possibly without Reaves, is a fair measure of the roster depth that Doncic has said can carry the team for a while. Grimes has been the one non-star to lead the team in scoring this season. A win would make it 12-2 and eight straight. A loss without Reaves would give the doubters an easy talking point.
The bigger test comes later. The games against the Thunder, Rockets, Spurs and Knicks will decide whether this start holds up in the conversation Perkins is describing. For now, the Lakers have won every game the schedule has put in front of them except two, and they beat one of those teams on the second try.
