Lakers Still Impacting Playoff Race From the Bottom of the Western Conference
By Eric Yee
These days it seems the only story line surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers is Kobe Bryant‘s farewell tour but LA still has an impact on the Western Conference playoff race
The Lakers enjoyed their fare share of success in the playoffs from 2007 to 2012, but since falling to the seventh seed in 2013, LA has grown worse and worse with each passing season.
However, in ironic Lakers’ fashion, the Purple and Gold are still affecting the Western Conference playoff race from the very bottom of the standings.
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In their remaining three games, Los Angeles plays two teams fighting for their playoff lives in the Houston Rockets (38-41) and the Utah Jazz (39-40).
That said, Lakers’ faithful would love nothing more than to knock the Dwight Howard and the Rockets one step further from playoff contention and that’s exactly what they have a chance to do Sunday afternoon. A win against the Rockets and a loss against the Jazz would essentially give the Jazz an extra game lead on the struggling Rockets.
This would come into conflict with allowing Kobe Bryant to end his historic NBA career with a much deserved win, so in this case, a win-win is not at hand.
More over, if the Lakers ended up losing to the Rockets and beating the Jazz, they could propel the Rockets directly into the eighth seed and the dominant Golden State Warriors, which wouldn’t be the worst thing.
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Returning to your regularly scheduled program, be sure to catch one of Kobe’s remaining final three games, Sunday at 12:30PST in Houston at the Toyota Center.