Since LeBron James exited a game against the Atlanta Hawks with an ankle sprain, the Lakers have recorded seven losses in their last 10 games to slide out of any realistic contention for the top seed in the Western Conference.
James is still out indefinitely with no timetable for a return (though he is traveling with the team), and superstar big man Anthony Davis – who has now missed the last 22 games stretching back to the other side of the All-Star break – is still “a ways away” from returning to the court, according to coach Frank Vogel. To pile on to Lakers fans’ recent misery, even new arrival Andre Drummond has missed time with a near-immediate toe injury.
As noted by The Athletic, the Lakers’ offense has been bad since the Davis injury, and pathetic since losing James, dropping to 29th in offensive efficiency over the last nine games. Los Angeles has scored more than 100 points in a game just once over their last five.
The Lakers are still a lock to make the playoffs, and so long as James, Davis and Drummond are healthy for the postseason, Los Angeles should still be considered a title favorite. Yet the upcoming stretch of games could potentially make the Lakers’ road to a repeat much tougher. Los Angeles is two games into a seven-game road swing. Of the Lakers’ next 10 games, nine are against projected playoff teams, and two are against the team with the best record in the league by a wide margin.
The Lakers are 3-6 since LeBron’s injury. They are 3 games up from the 7th seed.
Nine of their next 10 games are against .500 teams:
at Raptors
at Heat
at Nets
at Knicks
at Hornets
vs Celtics
vs Jazz
vs Jazz
at Mavs (4 week mark since injury)
at Mavs pic.twitter.com/Vqss2hsFUL— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 5, 2021
Fortunately for the Lakers, they do have a relatively easy schedule over the final weeks of the season – but Vogel may choose to rest his stars over the final part of the season.
Los Angeles is currently fifth in the Western Conference, only a half-game ahead of the now-healthy and surging Blazers. A three-game drop back to seventh would force LA to take part in the new play-in tournament in 2021, and set up a very tricky first-round matchup assuming the Lakers advance.
The next two weeks will be crucial for the Lakers, and both LeBron and AD can’t return soon enough.
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