With only 97 points in their preseason loss to the Golden State Warriors, you might think this was a bad offense for the Lakers. In many ways you would be right.

This was Los Angeles’ lowest point total this preseason and tied for the second-worst 3-point percentage, converting 27.5% of their 40 attempts.

Still, head coach JJ Redick was generally positive about the offense when reflecting on the post-game process.

“I was very encouraged by the shots we got,” Redick said. “Very encouraged. It was when we didn’t trust our offense and were a little stagnant, the ball was hanging. That was the beginning of the third quarter. We had 19 points, I think, in the third and AD had eight on four consecutive possessions in iso ball – what I called those plays because he didn’t touch it. I mean, that was just, we didn’t play well that quarter. That happens sometimes and it’s a growth opportunity, it’s a learning lesson for our group.

“Our execution, ball movement, passing, all that stuff… I loved it in the first half. We just weren’t making shots and that’s human nature, it’s a tendency of groups, of players. I lived it .” Again, I have experienced many of these things. So I have some experience and some perspective. You don’t trust it anymore and you start, ‘I have to get myself going,’ and that’s like not wanting to play and that’s okay. It happens, we get better.”

So the Lakers struggled to score and shot poorly, but had an encouraging offense. How can all this be true?

While the numbers don’t lie, they lack context. If you watch that first half, you’ll see effective ball movement and a lot of the three-point shots looked good.

Plus, you got a lax LeBron James in this preseason game, which won’t happen for the entire game next week when the regular season starts.

Process and results ideally go hand in hand, but this game is an example of how this is not always the case.

While the Lakers played their expected regular season rotations in the first half, the third quarter featured a lot of younger guys and by the fourth the South Bay Lakers got the bulk of the run.

Anthony Davis was incredible when the game was serious and the Lakers were competitive against the Warriors during those minutes.

Now there is concern that while the offense looks nice, their personnel can’t execute it. Redick seems to want to make a lot of three-pointers and the team has struggled to convert on them so far.

This was their second 11-40 shooting night from deep this preseason. They are mediocre from 3-point range, averaging 29.5% during the preseason. That puts the Lakers 15th in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage.

Again, it’s only the preseason and the sample size is small. The law of averages says that 11-40 nights won’t be common during an 82-game season.

But how many great shooters do the Lakers have?

D’Angelo Russell is the franchise leader in 3-point makes, and last season, LeBron and Rui Hachimura were the only other Lakers besides Russell to average over 40% from center.

Can they increase their volume and not decrease their percentages? Will they be able to adapt to this offense and win games, or will there be a lot of growing pains early on as they adjust to a new coach and system?

The Western Conference is tough, so hopefully the Lakers can get off to a solid start and pick up wins early as they iron things out.

We’ll find out soon enough, as the regular season is just a few days away.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.