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The Lakers have a real shot at the top seed in the west. If you haven't noticed, their record gets a lot easier when they come home from this 9 game road trip, which they should finish 7-2

@ Minnesota win
Atlanta win
@ Phoenix win
@ LA Clippers win
@ Seattle win
Portland win
Miami win
@ Portland loss
Dallas win
@ Sacramento win
LA Clippers win
Sacramento loss

BYNUM EXPECTED BACK HERE.......

Toronto win
@ New Orleans win
@ Houston loss
@ Dallas win
@ Utah loss
Seattle win
Golden State win
@ Golden State win
Charlotte win
Memphis win
Washington win
Portland win
Dallas win
@ Sacramento win
@ Portland win
@ LA Clippers win
New Orleans loss
San Antonio win
Sacramento win

I'm projecting them at 26-5 over the last 31 games, which I think is fairly reasonable given how light the schedule is. That puts us at 60-22 in the regular season, and I'm guessing that 58 will be enough to finish first in the conference. I don't think this is too much to ask from this team. Anything less than 55 wins to finish the year to me is a disappointment.

I was a little skeptical that we would be able to be this successful so fast when the Gasol trade went down. I was all about next season and cautious of getting my hopes up for this season. But the Gasol transition appears seemless. Whats more, he's not as bad defensively playing with the Lakers as he was with the Grizzlies. He's getting help defensively and the pressure has been taken off of him offensively. He looks like he was born to play in the triangle offense.

The Championship picture is complete. We have Kobe the Dominator, Gasol the Finesse guy, Bynum the Enforcer, Odom the Janitor (mop up guy), and Fisher the motor. Phil Jackson will have this team ready come playoff time and I for one am more excited than I've been in a long time.



On a side note, Hollinger's Playoff Odds Predictor has a three way tie for the top spot, with the Lakers, Hornets, and Suns all finishing 55-27.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds [/b]

can you mark what period bynum is expected to come back?

done

Interesting ....

56 - 26.

I fore see bright and sunny days....

59-23

Were playing for the top spot I hope. Soon as Bynum gets back it may take a couple games to adjust but not to long.

Easy Turbo

This is crucial


Toronto win
@ New Orleans win
@ Houston loss
@ Dallas win
@ Utah loss

Thankfully that is right where Bynum is back.

But then again -- when we chirn up wins and develop some cred expect some A+ game from our opponents.

We can get the top spot but this is the year that no west team can get 60 wins... they will be beating each other.

If we can stay healthy, I think we'll go 57-25, which is really good considering what we've endured this season with injuries and whatnot.

That puts us at around 23-8 the rest of the way.

I know how tempting it is to claim the Lakers winning 55+60 games but sometimes the Lakers just flat out don't play hard and get beaten by the Weakest teams, I hope we can pull a big one and reach atleast 57 Wins, and more importantly get Bynum back in a healthy good shape while having no detrimental injuries the rest of the way.

31-0 the rest of the way!!
thats 65 wins

i think people are judging the lakers too harsh....theyre still a brand new team with gasol and ariza...and bynum hasnt played a game in almost a month or so.
i see the lakers losing 10 of their next 31 games...bringing them to an overall record of 55-27....enough for about the 4th to 6th spot in the west.

Kobe D wrote:Easy Turbo

Don't you mean Tony Turbo.

Anyways 26-5 is very optomistic, IMO. I think 23-8 is more like it. We have to see what happens when Bynum gets back and you can almost count on some else getting injured. no jinx.

14 of the next 31 games are against teams below .500.

If the Lakers play the WAY they're supposed to play, that means we should be guaranteed at least 14 wins right now by beating and dominating the weak teams we have to beat (48 wins counted at this point).

That means the Lakers need to at least win 10 of the 17 games against the good teams, to be ready for the playoffs and make some noise. Lakers could do that, win 10 of 17. If we do, we'd be looking at a 58 win record at least!

58-24

I feel giddy!

Side note: Lakers won 7 straight without Pau. With Pau and Bynum, Lakers could easily put a run and win 10+ straight game(s).

58-24

Fair enough, but if the Lakers find their way to 60 wins I want my props...

My prediction of 60-22 is looking pretty good right about now