Sound the alarm — the Los Angeles Lakers are in danger.
That may sound funny, given that they have been in trouble for what seems like the entire season. But with a 128-110 shellacking from the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, Los Angeles is entering a reality that not even its biggest cynic could have seen coming.
If the playoffs started today, the Lakers would not be one of the eight teams representing the Western Conference. In fact, they would not even be one of the 10 teams that qualify for the play-in tournament.
And no, the playoffs don’t start today. So, what’s the big deal? The play-in is slated to begin less than two weeks from today, leaving the Lakers with just seven games to sneak their way in. But it won’t be easy. According to Tankathon, the Lakers have the third-toughest remaining schedule of any team in the league.
The Lakers are now the 11 seed. 5 of their last 7 games are against top 6 teams in the West. pic.twitter.com/3ocKoKu1ZJ
— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 30, 2022
Even then, LA will have to dig even deeper than what the standings may reflect at first glance. The Lakers have the same record as the Spurs (31-44), who are in 10th place, but LA sits in 11th since the Spurs own the tiebreaker. The Lakers also don’t own the tiebreaker over the Pelicans (ninth place) or Clippers (eighth), although a climb to the No. 8 seed would talk a lot of hope and prayer at this point in the season.
To add salt to the wounds, LeBron James is nursing an ankle injury that caused him to miss Tuesday’s game at Dallas. However, Anthony Davis appears to be just days away from returning to the Lakers’ lineup, reports Yahoo’s Chris Haynes.
My @NBAonTNT Report: Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis targeting a return Friday, star LeBron James anticipated to miss Thursday in SLC and Kendrick Nunn expected to be shelved for remainder of season. pic.twitter.com/UuZSXPlWT9
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 30, 2022
Will AD’s and LeBron’s potential returns come in time to save the Lakers from an awful ending? Or could the Lakers actually miss the playoffs or, even worse, the play-in tournament? It would be one of the more unforeseen things in recent memory when it comes to the NBA, considering this team had an over/under of 52.5 wins and the second-best championship odds entering the season (+300 at Tipico Sportsbook).
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