The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of stake in who is the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
The Los Angeles Lakers locked up the first seed in the Western Conference in their third seeding game with a win over the Utah Jazz. While there has been a lot of moving parts in the playoff picture, the Lakers have not been one of them.
However, there has been a tightly contested, and quite frankly very compelling, race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference that absolutely impacts the Lakers. What I predicted to be a runaway for the New Orleans Pelicans has turned into something completely different.
The Portland Trail Blazers have balled out in the Orlando bubble, which was kind of expected as they are fully healthy and really talented, and have moved into the eighth seed. The Memphis Grizzlies have been pretty bad and there has been a surprise team thrown into the mix: the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns are 7-0 in the bubble and now find themselves half a game behind the Blazers, who are the eighth seed, and are tied with the Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs.
Due to the unique nature of the Orlando bubble, the league implemented the rule where the ninth seed would play the eighth seed in a double-elimination play-in game if they were within four games. Whoever the ninth seed is will be within four and will have to beat the Blazers twice to get in, whereas the Blazers just need to win once.
The Blazers are the absolute worst-case scenario for the Los Angeles Lakers as they are a very dangerous team to play, but what is the best-case scenario?
It is the Phoenix Suns. That might not sound all that wise, as the Suns are the hottest team in the bubble, but when we really break it down, it is quite clear that the most realistic, best-case scenario is the Suns.
Let’s break down why that is the case.