NBA Standings 2019: Los Angeles Lakers Lead West, Golden State Warriors Own Worst Record In League

The Los Angeles Lakers (9-2) cruised past the Golden State Warriors (2-10) 120-94 at Staples Center Wednesday night. In doing so, L.A. maintained its lead atop the Western Conference and Golden State fell to the bottom of the overall NBA standings.

The Lakers have a one-game lead over the Houston Rockets (8-3) and Utah Jazz (8-3) for the No.1 seed. Only the Boston Celtics (9-1) have a better record than Los Angeles in the entire NBA. Boston is on a nine-game winning streak after losing its season opener.

Golden State is 7.5 games behind Los Angeles with 70 games remaining in the 2019-2020 season. The Warriors are not simply the worst team in the West. Wednesday’s loss put them a game behind the hapless New York Knicks (2-9) for the worst record in basketball.

The New Orleans Pelicans (2-8) are just ahead of the Warriors in the West. The Washington Wizards (2-7) are also stuck on two wins.

LeBron James and Golden State met in four straight NBA Finals from 2015-2018. The Warriors and Lakers were both expected to be in playoff contention, if not title contention, this season, but the injury to Stephen Curry has completely derailed Golden State’s season.

Curry has missed four of 12 games with a broken hand and won’t return for another few months. Draymond Green has played seven games, and he hasn’t been nearly as effective without multiple All-Star teammates. D’Angelo Russell leads Golden State with 25.7 points per game in nine contests.

While nothing can seem to go right for the Warriors, the Lakers couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. The team has won nine of 10 games since losing to Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers (7-4) in the season opener.

James has played every game, leading the league with 11.1 assists per game. He could make a real MVP run if he stays healthy.

Anthony Davis missed his first game of the season Wednesday with shoulder and rib soreness. The big man leads the Lakers with 26.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, despite dealing with a lingering shoulder injury for a few weeks.

The Lakers lead the NBA in defensive efficiency. Los Angeles is one of two teams that are giving up fewer than 100 points per 100 possessions.

With Paul George set to make his season debut Thursday, the Clippers are still the 2020 NBA Finals favorites. They are a half-game behind the Denver Nuggets (7-3) for a top-four seed in the West.