The Los Angeles Lakers were given very little time to pat themselves on the back after winning their game of the year against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. Monday is here and that will start the first of two straight games against the Houston Rockets that should be very telling.
For one, the two matchups against the Rockets will wrap up the most challenging eight-game stretch of the season for the Lakers. Thus far, Los Angeles is acing that run, so much so that optimism is starting to fill the fanbase. That is where the second part of this comes in.
With how tight the Western Conference race is, the Rockets are a very realistic first round matchup for the Lakers. One and a half games separate the three seed (currently occupied by Los Angeles) and the sixth seed. The two sides could realistically meet in a three-six or a four-five clash.
The last time these two teams played, the Rockets hammered the Lakers on Christmas Day. That was then and this now. That sentiment is what Los Angeles should be clinging to for a matter of hope. Houston has been just as messy throughout the majority of this campaign. Only one of these teams could be peaking at the right time, though.
Lakers can make a clear statement with two more wins against the Rockets
The Oklahoma City Thunder are the class of the Western Conference. As much as it may pain some to say, it would be hard to find many who genuinely and truthfully disagree with that sentiment. Beyond that, the West is fairly wide open.
That is not to say there are not a handful of impressive teams in the mix. However, many of those squads — the Lakers included — have clear flaws. That makes things intriguing.
Ending up on the other side of the conference from the Thunder leaves the door open for any team to make a Western Conference Finals run. Could that be the Lakers? Well, why not?
Los Angeles have issues, but so do teams like the Rockets, Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Phoenix Suns. Nothing truly makes anyone from this group invulnerable. That is why the Lakers' next game against in Houston matters.
LA has at least one win against each of those teams, apart from the Rockets. Get both of the next two, and not only do you start to feel like they are beatable, but everyone is too amid this run of resurgence.
March is as good of a time as any to start playing your best basketball. Hitting your stride a little over a month before postseason basketball starts to help imaginations run wild in the best possible way.