The Lakers moved to 23-11 on the season with Tuesday night’s narrow win over the Pelicans. It’s been a somewhat rocky stretch of late for Los Angeles as concerns about the roster’s defensive abilities mount and JJ Redick’s frustrations have been made public. But the team remains in good position in the West—and are showing, at the very least, they are more than capable of winning close games down the stretch.
After last night’s victory in New Orleans the Lakers are now 13-0 in “clutch” games this season, defined by the NBA as games where the score is within five points with five or fewer minutes remaining. It marks the second-longest streak of clutch wins to begin a season in the play-by-play era behind only the legendary 2015-16 Warriors, who went 14-0 in clutch situations en route to a 73-9 finish.
