The NBA regular season will soon be coming to a close, with teams jocking for playoff position the Los Angeles Lakers have clinched a playoff berth. There are 6 games remaining on the Lakers schedule the next two are BIG Dallas and San Antonio. Also they have a showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder on ABC April 22nd. The gratifying thing about those 3 games is that the Lakers host all of them at Staples Center (25-6). The Lakers do not have it easy the rest of the way, and adjacent to them in the standings are the Los Angeles Clippers. Mike Brown’s Lakers possess a record of 38-22, good enough for 1st place in the division, the Clippers are 1.5 games back standing at 36-23.
With Kobe Bryant being sidelined due to injury (shin), the Lakers must find a way to maintain. There have been a few bright spots since Kobe’s injury, for starters the Lakers are a suprising 3-1 without their leader. To add, the bench play has been pleasant to watch during this span, and the big fella Andrew Bynum has been playing like a mad man. In his last four contests Bynum is averaging 21 ppg 16 rpg 2 bpg, during that stretch he managed to hoard in 30 rebounds against the Spurs.
I profess that the Lakers will clinch the Pacific Division this season, even with the Los Angeles Clippers peaking right now. The Clips just came off of a very emotional win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and they’re charging full speed ahead. Not to leave out they do have a much lighter schedule and one game more than the Lakers. In their next 7 games 4 of those are at the Staples Center against beatable teams.
This will be a very close race to the finish, and can play a huge factor as far as seeding for the playoffs go. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that number twenty-four will be ready to go come playoff time. Honestly the Lakers badly need Bryant down this stretch and entering the playoffs. The Lakers haven’t lost the Pacific Division title since 2007, so that is a positive sign. Stay tuned to this very intense fight to the finish I know that I will.
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