With two games left in the 2024-25 regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers have positioned themselves quite beautifully after Wednesday night's commanding 112-97 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The path through this year's postseason continues to get more clear for the Lakers.
Los Angeles had some incredible weight to carry into the matchup against Dallas. Not only was securing the victory important for supporting Luka Doncic in his first road game against his old team, but the Lakers had an opportunity to avoid the Play-In Tournament with a win. They passed this test with flying colors.
Doncic got the legendary performance he needed against his old team, receiving the closure in the process. As a part of that, the Lakers officially locked up a spot in the top six. Despite all of the success the victory brought, the time for complacency certainly has not come just yet.
The magic number is just 1 for the Lakers
It was impressive to see how great the Lakers played against the Mavericks considering it was the second night of a back-to-back for them. The superstar duo of Doncic and LeBron James shined in particular.
Doncic had 31 points before halftime, finishing the game with 45 in an effort to stick it to Mavericks management and ownership. LeBron came into the fourth quarter energized from allowing Luka to take the driver's seat for the first three quarters. James secured the win for the Lakers with 13 points in the final quarter of the ball game. It was the perfect recipe for success.
With a spot in the top six officially clinched, the Lakers can lock up the third seed in the Western Conference with just one more win. That would go a long way to ensuring they are positioned as best as they can be for this year's postseason run.
Who occupies the sixth seed has yet to be decided, but if the Lakers have homecourt, as they would with the third seed, that would undoubtedly go a long way to providing a great opportunity to move onto the second round.
If the Lakers slot themselves into that position, that would mean they face the Houston Rockets in the second round, should both those teams advance. That is the ideal scenario for Los Angeles at that stage. Not to discount the Rockets, but the Lakers can certainly take advantage of an inexperienced, young team in the playoffs. This is especially true when they lack a bona fide number one scoring option in the halfcourt.
Funny enough, the Rockets will be one of the last two teams left to play in this regular season for the Lakers. The other game will be against the Portland Trail Blazers. Los Angeles needs one of those two results to be a win.