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Los Angeles Lakers on right track, must stay the course

By Leandre Ochoa

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 21: Jordan Clarkson #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates a lead over the New York Knicks with Kyle Kuzma #0 during the first half at Staples Center on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 21: Jordan Clarkson #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates a lead over the New York Knicks with Kyle Kuzma #0 during the first half at Staples Center on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers on right track, must stay the course
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 23: Brandon Ingram #14 of the Los Angeles Lakers exchanges high fives with fans after the game against the Boston Celtics on January 23, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Getting over the hump

Constantly hovering around 11th place for most of the season, the Lakers (18-29) continue to show flashes of exciting and productive play. Although the Lakers continue to show fluidity to their offense, a consistent effort on both ends of the floor will enable the team to get over that hump.

On paper, the Lakers seem like nothing more than your average “outside looking in” team in the Western Conference. But in comparison to the three teams ahead of the Lakers – the Jazz, Clippers, and Nuggets – Los Angeles seems to be the team with major sustainable upside.

Yes, Denver and Utah equally yield out starting lineups that average double digits in points and rebounds. Both teams are going through a similar youthful resurgence, as such the Lakers, but it has felt like Denver and Utah have been going through that process for over a decade now, becoming perennial middling organizations.

As for the Clippers, ironically, I’ll just save infinite digital paper space by shamelessly plugging this article again.

The Clippers, who have won six of their last 10 games, seem to be on their first AND last leg of the Blake-DeAndre-“six-man-like-Lou-Will”-Rivers-Wes Johnson experiment.

In other words, the Lakers’ future seems more promising and viable to jolt upward than the teams occupying the 10th, 9th, and 8th positions. The team sitting above all four — the Portland Trail Blazers, who have consistently been another tier above the aforementioned teams, seem less threatening these days.

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