1. The Schedule
Of the Lakers 25 remaining games, 13 are at home and 12 on the road (including 1 “home” and 1 “away” game against the Clippers). The Lakers are 16-12 at home and 12-16 on the road, not a huge differential.
Furthermore, they have already posted three of their best victories of the season on the road, at Golden State, OKC and Boston. They lost at home to two teams with the league’s worst records, Cleveland and New York. So although the amount of home and away games left is worth mentioning, it may not be all that pertinent.
As noted above, the Lakers have often had some of their strongest outings against the better teams, yet have come out flat against the weaker ones. How significant is that?
Fans better hope the first part of that trend continues because 60% of their remaining games (15 out of 25) are against teams with winning records. Nine at home (including Houston, Milwaukee, Denver, Boston and Golden State) four on the road (Toronto, Milwaukee, Utah and OKC) and two against the Clippers at Staples Center.
That leaves 10 games against sub-.500 teams, of which seven are on the road, including games at Phoenix, Chicago and New York, and 2 in New Orleans.
Overall, it’s a mighty tough schedule, more difficult than that faced by any of the teams they are chasing. To move up in the standings, the Lakers will have to give their best effort in virtually every game regardless of the opponent. It remains to be seen if the team is capable of doing that.
This playoff race will likely not be settled until the last week of the season, or perhaps even the final game, as it was last year. The Lakers closing 5 games look especially challenging: at OKC, then at Staples against the Warriors, Clippers, Jazz and Blazers. If they are to make the postseason, they’ll have to earn it the hard way.