The 2021-22 NBA season is flying by with the All-Star break fast approaching. That means teams need to figure out which direction they’ll take to end the season sooner rather than later. For the Los Angeles Lakers, time is running out to build momentum for a title push.
The Lakers have been hit with the injury bug again this season. Setbacks to LeBron James and Anthony Davis keep derailing the chemistry this team needs to build with Russell Westbrook, the third option L.A. acquired to get the squad over the hump.
Winning the title was the expectation for the Lakers entering this season, but Nick Schwartz of our sister site, Rookie Wire, offers a sobering fact. He calculated every team’s odds of making the playoffs and winning the title:
To get a better sense of the playoff picture, we found the consensus playoff and title odds for every team, using playoff projections from FiveThirtyEight, Basketball Reference and ESPN’s BPI.
Each team is ordered by their average chance to make the playoffs – and aside from a few clubs already eyeing a top-three draft pick, most of the teams in the league still have a shot at making the postseason.
Los Angeles ranks No. 19:
Chance to make the playoffs: 25.6%
Chance to win the 2022 NBA title: 0.3%
With the Lakers 24-27, none of these numbers are surprising. L.A. is clinging to a play-in spot in the Western Conference. If the team can have a healthy run of games, maybe a firm push can be made late in the season. But it’s not looking good for the purple and gold.
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