Lake Show Life
Fansided

How many more wins do the Lakers need to make the play-in?

By Jason Reed

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - MARCH 27: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers stands on the court during the third quarter of an NBA game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on March 27, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans Pelicans won the game 116 - 108. 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 Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - MARCH 27: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers stands on the court during the third quarter of an NBA game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on March 27, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans Pelicans won the game 116 - 108. 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 Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Los Angeles Lakers blew a massive halftime lead to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night and drastically decreased the chances of making the NBA Play-In Tournament this season. With the loss, the Pelicans not only went up half a game for the ninth seed but secured the tiebreaker over the Lakers if they were to finish with the same record.

To muddy the waters even more, the Pelicans lost to the San Antonio Spurs over the weekend and now the Lakers have just a one-game lead over the Spurs from missing the play-in altogether.

Many fans are already calling this the most disappointing season in franchise history and missing the play-in would be the icing on the cake. In a traditional year, the Lakers would have been out of the playoff running weeks ago. If they cannot extend their season with all the extra help they are getting then that is a disaster.

LeBron James and co. do control their own destiny with the lead over the Spurs but it is nearly impossible to trust them. This leaves many fans asking the question: how many more wins does the team realistically need to make the play-in?

Let’s break it down.

How many wins the Lakers need to make the play-in:

First of all, both the Pelicans and Spurs have pretty easy schedules to finish the season. The Pelicans play the Trail Blazers twice, the Lakers, the Kings, the Clippers and finish the season against the Grizzlies and Warriors.

Even if the Pelicans lose to the Lakers, they have four winnable games against Portland, Sacramento and the Clippers. A 3-4 record seems to be the worst finish that the Pelicans could have, and remember, they have the tiebreaker over LA.

MUST-READ: One word to describe every Laker this season 

Meanwhile, the Spurs also play the Blazers two more times while also playing the Rockets, Grizzlies, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Warriors and Grizzlies. That is a bit tougher of a schedule for San Antonio, but still relatively easy.

The Spurs should beat the Rockets and the Blazers both times. The remaining five games are against playoff teams and it is safe to say that the Spurs should win at least one of those games. A 1-4 record in those five is not that absurd of a prediction.

That gives the Spurs a predicted closing record of 4-4. Mixed with the Pelicans’ predicted 3-4 record, we have our number for the Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers need to win four more games to make the play-in.

A 4-4 finish for the Lakers would keep the Spurs out of the play-in as they would keep their one-game lead. If the two teams finish tied, the Spurs also have the tiebreaker over the Lakers. There is a world in which the Lakers finish 4-4, the Pelicans finish 3-4 and the Spurs finish 6-2 and the Lakers would miss the playoffs, but that seems highly unlikely.

Winning four games itself may seem highly unlikely for the purple and gold. The team’s final eight games, in order, are as followed: at Mavericks, at Jazz, Pelicans, Nuggets, at Suns, at Warriors, Thunder, at Nuggets.

The only “easy” game on that entire slate is the Oklahoma City Thunder. While LA will probably beat one or two of those playoff teams with a huge LeBron James game, there is a reality in which the Lakers legitimately finish 1-7 in the final eight games and end up way outside of the play-in.

Next. 50 greatest Lakers of all-time. dark

Simply put: it is not a great time to be a Laker fan. At least in the mid-2010s, there were no expectations.

Home/Lakers News