Lakers are struggling when stars go to the bench

Coach Mike Brown has relied heavily on four players through the team’s three games, all losses.

Pau Gasol is leading the team at 39.7 minutes per game followed by Kobe Bryant (38.7), Dwight Howard (36.7) and Metta World Peace (35.7).

The numbers are skewed a bit for Steve Nash (25 minutes a game), who sat out most of the second game against the Portland Trail Blazers with a leg injury that will keep him out at least a week.

Through three games the Lakers have been outscored by 9.3 points a night.

The +/- statistic, which accounts for how the team scores in relation to their opponents, shows how reliant the team is on its stars.

Gasol is averaging a +/- of 0.3 points a game, meaning the team is getting out-scored by 9.6 points in the brief 8.3 minutes he’s on the bench.

Bryant has the same +/- as Gasol but with 9.3 minutes on the bench.

Peace actually has a higher +/- the either at 1.0 a game, while sitting 12.3 minutes nightly.

Where the Lakers have struggled is with Howard in the middle with a majority of bench players. Howard’s +/- is -6.0.

In comparison, Jordan Hill’s +/- is -14.0 a game. Antawn Jamison’s is -7.7.

It’s a bit too early to draw conclusions with such a small sample size, but the majority of the damage done to the Lakers is when players like Bryant, Gasol and Peace are on the bench.

ALSO:Steve Nash out at least a week with non-displaced leg fracture

Analyst Kurt Rambis sees virtue in Lakers offense, Part I

Analyst Kurt Rambis sees virtue in Lakers offense, Part II

You can email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.