Lakers’ Season On the Line Today Against the New Orleans Pelicans
The Los Angeles Lakers are on the precipice of finishing outside of the top-ten teams in the West and missing the play-in tournament and playoffs or being the most dangerous and feared #8 playoff seed this side of the Brooklyn Nets.
Whether it’s the wacky nature of this crazy polarizing Lakers team or the rising parity and changing of the guard in the NBA, the line between a season becoming a stunning disaster or shocking success has never been thinner. Heading into today’s marquee matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans, the Los Angeles Lakers are 1.5 games away from being the #11 seed in the West, which would mean missing the Play-In Tournament and the NBA playoffs.
With just 9 games remaining, the Lakers are in a brutal 3-way battle with the Pelicans and Spurs for the #9 and #10 seeds in the West. The Lakers lead the pesky Pelicans by just a half game and the Spurs by just one and a half games. Adding to the potential chaos of the situation is the reality that many of the remaining games for the Lakers, Pelicans, and Spurs will be against teams for whom those games won’t matter, making it hard to predict who will prevail.
Here are the nine remaining games on the Lakers’ regular season schedule:
What jumps out right away about the Lakers schedule are the two games remaining against the Pelicans, today March 27th in New Orleans, and on April 1st in Los Angeles. Win those two games and Lakers championship quest is alive. Lose both games and the Lakers will likely finish an embarrassing 11th in the West and miss both the Play-In Tournament and the NBA playoffs. That could lead to major changes in both the Lakers’ front office and coaching staff.
The Los Angeles Lakers have played their best basketball of the year the last four games. Their game today against the New Orleans Pelicans is the most important game of the season. In many ways, the Lakers’ season is on the line today. Winning this game will transform the Lakers from a season-long embarrassment to a dangerous team that no other NBA team wants to meet in the playoffs. The Lakers are the last team the Suns want to face in the first round of the playoffs.
This is hopefully the third and final Covid colored NBA season. The Lakers have an opportunity to put together their second championship run in the last three years. Today, we’ll get a glimpse of just how possible that dream could be.
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