After the hard-fought victory over the Rockets (104-98), a win that could be worth its weight in gold at the end of the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers consolidated their fourth place in the Western Conference (46-29), which would guarantee them home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They now have a two-game lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are in seventh place and in the Play-In zone (44-32) after beating the Nuggets.
AI creates emotional Luka Doncic video tracing his career from 2005 to now
The Wolves have six regular season games remaining and the Lakers seven, and it seems unlikely that Minnesota will overtake them. In this situation, the Lakers are looking more up than down. They are focused on finishing in the top four to have that home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, in which they would face Curry’s Warriors, who are fifth (44-31), two wins behind and with seven games to play.
Nuggets and Rockets up next
The Lakers are just one game behind the Denver Nuggets (47-29), who have six games remaining. And 2.5 behind the Rockets (49-27). They are close to securing the tiebreaker against the Nuggets (better record in the Conference) and will also have it against the Houston team if they win the last regular season matchup between the two in Los Angeles on April 11.
We talk about qualifying as a group, but I always say we have to take it game by game. You can’t look ahead. Every game is a different challenge
To secure fourth place, the Lakers maintain a two-game lead over the Memphis Grizzlies (44-32) and a two-game lead over the Golden State Warriors (44-31), whom they will face at the Crypto.com Arena in the early hours of Thursday morning. A win there would almost ensure they stay in the top four and have home-court advantage in the first round.
Of course, the schedule is not very favorable for the Lakers, as four of the seven games they have left will have to be played on the road and they will have to visit the Thunder twice in a terrible ‘back to back’, leaders of the West (63-12) and who are currently playing in another league with the Cavaliers.
A complicated roadmap
First, they will host the Warriors and Pelicans at home, then play two games in Oklahoma and another in Dallas, in a high-voltage emotional game in which Doncic will return to his former home. They will host the Rockets at crypto.com and close the regular season in Portland. It is certainly not an easy road map, far from it.
I don’t look at the standings every day, but it’s talked about almost all the time. Our mission is to secure a playoff spot and not play a play-in, we know what’s at stake
The two great Lakers stars admit that they have the playoffs in mind, but each with their own philosophy. Luka Doncic is more restrained: “We think a little bit about the standings. We talk about it mainly as a group. But we just have to go game by game, and that’s what I always say. You can’t look ahead. We have to go game by game. Every game is a different challenge, so we just have to go game by game.”
The closest season
LeBron James is more realistic and does not hide, with caution, the great objective of his team at the moment: “Well, this year in particular is very tight, so tight that people get ahead, fall behind. Be that as it may, I don’t look at it on a daily basis, but it’s talked about almost all the time, and you know where you are. For us, obviously, our mission is to secure a playoff spot and not have to play a play-in, so we understand what’s at stake.”
Off the court the atmosphere is great. Everyone is joking around in the locker room. And when we need to focus, we do. So the chemistry is just right now
Whatever happens, and regardless of the game, what seems clear is that the Lakers’ locker room is united, as Doncic is quick to remind us every time he is asked about the team’s atmosphere: “Well, we haven’t even had a dinner together yet. We had so many games in a row that we didn’t have time for that. But off the court the atmosphere is great. Everyone joking around in the locker room. Then, when we need to focus, we do. So the chemistry is just right now”.
