The Los Angeles Lakers are going to the Play-In Tournament. The Golden State Warriors' win over the Houston Rockets a few days ago secured their spot in the tournament. However, LA has higher ambitions than the Play-In. They are still in striking distance of that sixth seed, the position that would grant them automatic entry to the playoffs.
As always, the fate of the Lakers hinges upon two men: Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Both players have been constants in the injury report for basically their entire Lakers run. With a matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers coming up, both LeBron and AD are listed as questionable for the game.
The Cavs have been a team that's been quietly chugging along this season. They've never been able to challenge the Boston Celtics for the top seed, but they've been great. The Lakers certainly have their work cut out for them, especially if both LeBron and AD end up missing the game.
That being said… both AD and LeBron should end up still playing in the game. Both stars played during their last win over the Wizards: a 125-120 win. Davis dropped 35 points and 18 rebounds while Bron had a cool 25-9-7 night. It's going to be an interesting night for the Lakers regardless.
Lakers' push for postseason play
The Lakers have been on a weird trajectory this season. There are times where this team has looked completely lost, yes. That alone is perplexing: they have a pretty talented roster with some great role players around LeBron and AD. The win against the lowly Wizards proves that a bit: struggling to put away the worst team in the league in the fourth quarter is concerning.
When they're playing against the best teams in the league, though, the Lakers turn it up a notch. LeBron and AD are one of the best playoff performers in the NBA, and that shows in their play against the “big guys”. When they're playing at peak performance, it's really hard to stop this team. Between AD's dominant presence on defense and the offense clicking… yeesh.
The Rockets' loss to the Warriors means that the former team is all but out of the Play-In Picture. That will allow the Lakers to relax a bit and focus on the sixth seed. There's currently a big log-jam in the 6-9 seeds, as the Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, and the Lakers fight for that final spot in the playoffs. Nabbing that spot is an instant ticket to the playoffs and skips the hell that is the Play-In Tournament.
Now, the Lakers can absolutely get it done in the Play-In. We've seen them do that exact same thing in the postseason last year. However, it was also painfully clear that they ran out of steam once they got to the Western Conference Finals. For LA to avoid that same disaster from happening again, they'll need to grab that sixth seed. It's just two games, after all. At the very least, they want to avoid the ninth seed to get a chance at winning only one game to advance from the Play-In.
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