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Lakers news: Lakers given abysmal odds of making the playoffs

By Jason Reed

CLEVELAND, OHIO - MARCH 21: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates during player introductions prior to the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on March 21, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. 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. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO - MARCH 21: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates during player introductions prior to the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on March 21, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. 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. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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Most Los Angeles Lakers news that has emerged in recent weeks has been negative as the team has struggled to win games all season and could go down as the most disappointing team inf franchise history. However, over the last few games, the team has played better as it is finally showing a sense of urgency.

That sense of urgency may be too little, too late for the Lakers. At the time of writing this, the Lakers are tied with the New Orleans Pelicans for the ninth seed in the Western Conference. With the Lakers only being two games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs, there is a world in which the Lakers are out of playoff contention a week from now.

Some Laker fans are still holding out hope and it is not hard to see why. The Lakers do still have LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who is expected to return at the beginning of April. They have significantly more star power than any other team in the play-in and that does favor them in a playoff setting.

Despite any potential optimism, the Lakers are still given abysmal chances of making the playoffs this season. According to FiveThirtyEight’s models, the Lakers have the second-lowest chances to make the playoffs of non-eliminated teams, only ahead of the San Antonio Spurs.

Lakers news: Lakers given a 6% chance of making the playoffs this season.

That is right, the team that was favored to win the NBA Championship out of the Western Conference before the season began now only has a 6% chance of making the playoffs this season.

To put that into perspective, LA’s chances are far lower than the other three teams that are currently in the play-in. The New Orleans Pelicans have a 31% chance, the Clippers have a 66% chance and the Timberwolves have a 94% chance. FiveThirtyEight likes every team but the Lakers, it seems.

To put it into further context, there are some strange teams that have better title odds than the Lakers have playoff odds. The 43-31 Nuggets have an 8% chance of winning the Finals. To make matters worse, FiveThirtyEight actually gives the Boston Celtics the highest chance of winning the NBA Championship this season (31%).

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This may not want to be the Lakers news that fans want to hear right now, but it is clear that nobody is expecting the team to make any sort of noise down the stretch.

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