The 2024-25 NBA season has been one that has provided more optimism for the Los Angeles Lakers and their fans than that of preceding years. This campaign is easily the most promising the team has had since 2019-20, when the Lakers went on to win their sole championship of the LeBron James era in Los Angeles.
Late into January is when it start to look like things were really clicking for the Lakers. Then, this little known thing happened at the beginning of February that helped Los Angeles keep building on that foundation. It was the Luka Doncic trade. You've probably never heard of it. It didn't garner much attention in the media, or anything of the sort.
The Lakers are currently riding an eight-game winning streak in Saturday night's contest against the defending champion Boston Celtics. That matchup will give them an opportunity to extend a pretty notable streak that has spoken to why the Lakers can comfortably be considered a title contender this season.
Strong competition has not deterred the Lakers' success
Nothing has been gift-wrapped for Los Angeles amid their resurgence. Their ascent to the second seed in the Western Conference has been filled with tough matchups and will continue to be just as difficult for the remainder of the campaign.
According to Tankathon, the Lakers have one of the strongest remaining strength of schedules for the 2024-25 season. They rank 4th in the NBA, with their remaining regular season opponents combining for a winning percentage of .547.
While that might provide some discomfort for Lakers fans initially, rest assured, the cause for concern should not actually be too high. One key statistic has shown just how great the Lakers have been in these kinds of situation.
As originally pointed out by Keerthika Uthayakumar on Twitter/X, after their 113-109 overtime win against the New York Knicks on Thursday, the Lakers have won 12 consecutive games against teams .500 or better. Their last loss to a team with a winning record was Jan. 19, when they dropped a 116-102 ball game to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Facing the Celtics, at TD Garden, will surely put the Lakers' streak in some jeopardy. However, it could also be a full circle moment for Los Angeles. This 12-game winning streak against .500 or better opponents actually started with a 117-96 beatdown of Boston at Crypto.com Arena on Jan. 23.
The Lakers' ability to bring their best against the good to great teams of this league just offers even more confidence towards what this team can do in the postseason.
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