4. The Other Teams
The Lakers are in an unenviable position. Not only do they need to win a higher percentage of games than it has to date against a strong caliber of competition, but they also needs teams above them to lose.
It is difficult if not impossible to predict just how every team will fare as they approach the homestretch of the season. But let’s take a look at the main competition anyway.
• The Clippers– They traded away their leading scorer, Tobias Harris, as they look more to the future than the present. All season long they seemed to be playing a bit over their heads and looked like the team most likely to fall, and that appears to be the case more than ever. However, the team plays hard almost every game and will not drop out of the playoff hunt without a fight. They still have to play Denver, Utah twice, OKC, Boston, Portland, Houston and Golden State. They’ll close the regular season against the Rockets, Lakers, Warriors and Jazz.
• The Kings– Sacramento has an exciting young team led by Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III that is trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006, currently the longest drought in the NBA. They have become a strong 4th quarter team, rallying for victory numerous times. Will that continue to be the case once the pressure to qualify for the postseason intensifies? Their recent acquisition of Harrison Barnes should help their cause, but their overall inexperience could be their Achilles heel. They’ll play the Warriors, Thunder, Bucks, Celtics twice, Sixers, Rockets twice and Blazers. They’re up against Houston, Utah and Portland in 3 of their last 5 games.
• The Spurs– San Antonio has been a streaky team this season. Before winning their final game before the break, they had lost 5 in a row. But they’ve twice won 5 straight games and two other times had 4-game winning streaks. They still have games against OKC, Denver twice, Milwaukee, Golden State, Houston and Boston. They also finish the season against Washington, Cleveland and Dallas.
• The Jazz– Utah is on a roll right now, having won 12 of their last 16 games. Logically, the team is due to slow down, but who knows to what extent? They have the easiest remaining schedule, playing OKC and Denver twice each and Milwaukee once. They conclude things against Phoenix, Sacramento, Denver and the two LA teams. Everything considered, catching them seems unlikely.
Conclusion
Fans are right to be concerned about the Lakers plight. The team has backed itself into a corner and now must hit the ground running right after the break if they are to give themselves a decent shot at the playoffs.
Those expecting that LeBron alone will carry the Lakers on his back to the promised land are doomed to disappointment. Despite how good James is, his team is no longer battling the weak sisters of the Eastern Conference.
Rather, it will take a total team effort, and will require substantial contributions from the likes of Kuzma, Ingram and Ball, to move up enough in the standings.
CAN the Lakers make the playoffs? Although the odds are against them, they most certainly can. Many teams in the past have made up more ground after the All-Star break than the Lakers need to qualify for the postseason.
But WILL the Lakers make the playoffs? It’s difficult to be more than cautiously optimistic about that. It will require that the Lakers reverse the inconsistency that has marred their season so far, that players like LeBron and Rondo lead the way without dominating, and that the younger players more fully settle into roles that help the team most. Time will tell if that’s too much to ask.
The best guess here- and it is admittedly “the glass is half-full” optimistic conjecture- is that the Lakers will pass the Clippers and Kings to move into 8th place, but won’t catch either the Spurs or Jazz or any other Western team. However, they could just as easily fall short of their goal.
On a national NBA telecast this week, Jeff Van Gundy said that the Lakers are capable of beating any Western Conference team other than the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. The challenge for the Lakers is winning enough of its final 25 games to prove whether Van Gundy is right.