The Los Angeles Lakers put together another impressive win on Monday when they glided past the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-104. The Thunder came in as the top team in the Western Conference, but despite a slow start, the Lakers opened a big lead in the second and third quarters and never looked back.
The win put Los Angeles in ninth in the Western Conference with a 34-29 record. It is two games behind the seventh-place Phoenix Suns and three games behind the sixth-place New Orleans Pelicans, both of whom it holds a tiebreaker over.
Finishing sixth would allow the team to bypass the play-in tournament, but it could also mean a first-round playoff date with the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets, a team it seems the Lakers simply cannot defeat.
Anthony Davis said the Lakers don’t really care where they finish in the West standings.
Anthony Davis: “We don’t really care what seed we’re in. We proved it last year, it doesn’t matter … It’s just about getting in and tackling each opponent from there” pic.twitter.com/jfZnRx3SZV
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 5, 2024
Davis had his usual strong performance on Monday with 24 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in 30 minutes while thoroughly outplaying Rookie of the Year contender Chet Holmgren. He’s having another excellent season, averaging 24.9 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.5 blocks per contest.
The Lakers will play mostly teams with a better record than them through the rest of March. But most of those games will take place at home, and they will likely be focused, unlike the way they have come out against inferior squads this season.