What We've Learned About 2014-15 Los Angeles Lakers so Far

Could the season have started any worse for the Los Angeles Lakers?

Three games in, and the Lakers are on pace for an 0-82 run—and given how they've performed thus far, that's not much of an exaggeration.

There is little to no sign of improvement. The injuries continue to pile up, and L.A. is having a hard time just staying competitive against its Western Conference counterparts.

All signs point to yet another long and frustrating season in Laker Land. Let's take a look at what the first week of real basketball has unearthed about the team.

Note: All statistics as of October 30

The Injury Bug Just Keeps Biting

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It's deja vu all over again for the Lakers, who have been ravaged by injuries since 2012.

This year, the team came into the season already knowing it would be without Nick Young and Ryan Kelly for an extended period of time. But the situation has only gotten worse.

Days before opening night, it was announced that Steve Nash would not be able to suit up at all in the 2014-15 season after aggravating previous maladies while carrying luggage.

With this most likely being Nash's final NBA campaign, it's sad to see the two-time league MVP go out with a whimper.

Nash never got in a groove in L.A. after breaking his leg in his second game as a Laker. He played fewer combined minutes in his three doomed seasons in Tinsel Town than he did in any individual season from 2000-12.

On the other end of the spectrum is Julius Randle.

The rookie only got 13 minutes into his professional career before fracturing his tibia. He is slated to miss the remainder of the season, taking any hope the Lakers had this year with him to rehab.

This fresh rash of injuries has impacted L.A.'s rotation to the point where Ronnie Price is seeing the court more than any other Laker.

The Offense Is Stagnant

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Heading into Friday's Staples Center showdown with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers were scoring just 95.4 points per 100 possessions—a mark that would have finished even lower than the league-worst Philadelphia 76ers a year ago.

Possessions routinely devolve into isolations for Kobe Bryant, and Bryant is working twice as hard to get off looks that are half as good as he used to get.

Bryant's 42 field-goal attempts through two games more than double the number of shots that any other Laker has taken. And according to NBAsavant.com's shot tracker, all but six of those attempts were jumpers.

The Mamba is hoisting a ridiculous 26.5 shots per 36 minutes—the most prolific pace of his career—while connecting on fewer than 41 percent of those field goals—the lowest figure of his career, should it hold up.

As a team, the Lakers appear to be shying away from the three-pointer. Their 11.5 attempts per game from outside over their first two tilts are less than half of what they shot in 2014 and the second-lowest number in the league. The result is the NBA's third-lowest effective field-goal percentage.

Ancillary scorers like Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin really need to step up and help Bryant shoulder the offensive load. Both newcomers have gotten off to slow starts, but Lin picked it up against the Clippers, going for 17 points and nine assists in L.A.'s best offensive performance thus far.

The Defense Remains a Sieve

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Only the Utah Jazz have surrendered more points per possession than the Lakers. Only the Sacramento Kings are allowing more trips to the free-throw line. Only the Dallas Mavericks are giving up more made three-point baskets.

In short, the Lakers haven't done anything well on defense. They can't keep opponents off the foul line or the three-point arc, and they can't protect the rim, as no team has allowed a higher field-goal percentage than L.A. in the restricted area, per NBA.com.

The Lakers can't even hold their own on the glass, as just four teams have grabbed a fewer percentage of rebounds than the Lakers have.

Byron Scott vowed to bring a tenacious defensive mentality to the team. So far, that hasn't manifested itself on the court, as the Lakers are giving up 115 points per game through the first three. 

The Lakers don't appear to have the personnel to play well defensively. So if Scott can't get his charges to play cohesively and execute the game plan with precision, L.A. will continue to capitulate on that side of the ball.

Kobe Bryant Is Already Frustrated

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Bryant said all the right things heading into the season about liking his group of teammates and looking forward to competing for a playoff spot.

It's clear that he is already fed up three games into the season.

Bryant's frustration has been evident in his play, as he mixed it up in minor scuffles in each of L.A.'s first two games—first with former teammate Dwight Howard and then with Eric Bledsoe.

He picked up a technical foul in each contest for his troubles.

Bryant has also showed no faith in his teammates on the offensive end. He has attempted more than a quarter of L.A.'s total field goals, and his current usage percentage would break his own NBA record.

Bryant has always insisted that anything less than a championship is a failure. The way this season is heading, describing it as a failure would be too kind.

The Season Is Effectively over

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The most important aspect of the 2014-15 season was the development of Randle, and now that is out the window.

It's also easily apparent that the Lakers have no shot at securing a playoff berth. 

Attention will now turn to the first-round draft pick the Lakers gave to the Phoenix Suns as part of the Nash trade. If it falls within the top five, L.A. gets to keep it and select another top prospect to nurture alongside Randle.

The dreaded "T-word" has been bandied about as a means of ensuring that the Lakers hang on to that precious pick, but tanking would be unnecessary. The Lakers just need to play the same way they are now, and they're practically a lock to be one of the three worst teams in the league and keep their 2015 first-rounder.

For now, all Lakers fans have to look forward to this season is the Kobe Show, as the shots and points (and losses) continue to add up for the franchise star.