At the time of writing this, the playoff fate of the Los Angeles Lakers has not yet been decided. The Lakers enter Sunday with the same record as the Portland Trail Blazers, who own the season tiebreaker over the purple and gold.
If the Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans and the Blazers lose to the Denver Nuggets, both are very possible outcomes, then the Lakers will move up to the sixth seed and avoid the NBA play-in tournament.
That is the only situation that the Lakers can move to become the sixth seed. But don’t you fear, the play-in could be a blessing in disguise for the Lakers, although now the team would not have to face the Los Angeles Clippers if they become the sixth seed, which is promising.
Regardless of seeding, the Los Angeles Lakers are going to shock many people in the NBA Playoffs.
It feels weird to say that the defending NBA Champions are going to shock NBA fans but it has felt like the Lakers have been a bit discounted this season. Injuries upon injuries have stacked up and the Lakers certainly have not had the record of a defending champion, case in point by their standing in the West.
At the end of the day, though, regular-season records mean nothing as long as you get to the playoffs and win games there. The Los Angeles Lakers are geared up to do just that.
On an even bigger stage, there are going to be several Lakers players who are going to shock casual NBA fans, both for good reasons and bad reasons. Some players will prove to be better than casual NBA fans may realize, while others are not quite what the box score indicates.