The Los Angeles Lakers have just set a franchise record with a 7-0 record for road games. On Wednesday, the Lakers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-99. The Lakers yet to be beaten on the road. Before this season, the franchise record was during the 1985-1986 season where the team went on a 6-0 run on the road. It seems like the expectations for the Lakers season are coming into fruition. The last three away games have been wins with over a 10-point differential. The Lakers have been doing their work and continuing the work throughout the games. This allows for the team to be blowing out their opponent as opposed to continuing to have close games.
Due to the Covid-19 situation, there is either no fans or limited fans attending NBA games. This means that the idea of home court advantage may be dwindling. The ability for home crowds to sway momentum and distract opposing players is something that is a factor in the NBA. In normal circumstances, the home team would feed off the energy of the home crowd. The NBA Bubble gave some teams a look at the new NBA game experience, with no fans. The Lakers were in the Bubble the longest so they have the most experience of feeding off of their own energy. This could possibly be a factor in their new franchise record.
The Lakers are adjusting to losing the factor of fan energy on the road quite easily. While being undefeated on the road and currently having the best record in the NBA, it does not seem like the Lakers are affected by the lack of fans. The Staples Center is currently not allowing fans into the arena and this could possibly be a small factor in the Lakers’ three losses. This may mean that the Lakers are missing their own fan’s energy during their home games. While there were no fans at the games, there was other issues during the game that may have been a better reason for the loss. The Lakers are in a great position for the beginning of the season and the absence of fans may only be a small part in their three losses.
The Lakers still have a lot of wins before they can reach another championship. While this is a long season, there is nothing wrong with celebrating a few franchise records in the mean time. Hopefully this new achievement will be a precursor to another championship.
Kings of the Road pic.twitter.com/qpdFcMrNvY
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 14, 2021
Information gathered from nba.com.
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