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The Lakers are currently 5th in the West and 3 1/2 game ahead of Dallas for the play-in tournament.

AD is expected back on or around April 15 but with an Achilles injury they must take extra caution with the future of their franchise.

Looking at the Lakers schedule shows us they have 21 games remaining, 14 of which are vs. playoff teams. I have them winning 11 or 12 of those remaining games putting them around 44-28 to end the season. So the question is do you think they can avoid the play-in tournament vs Warriors/Spurs?

https://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/lal

Lakers will avoid the play-in. I think they'll end up as the 5 seed and play the Clippers in the first round

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LakersNavy wrote:Lakers will avoid the play-in. I think they'll end up as the 5 seed and play the Clippers in the first round

Did you see their schedule of the playoff teams?

@ Miami, @Brooklyn, vs Boston, vs Utah, vs Utah, @Dallas, @Dallas, vs Denver, @LA, @ Portland, vs Phoenix, vs New York.

That's 12 playoff teams right there.

PrinceCliche wrote:[streamable][/streamable]

LakersNavy wrote:Lakers will avoid the play-in. I think they'll end up as the 5 seed and play the Clippers in the first round

Did you see their schedule of the playoff teams?

@ Miami, @Brooklyn, vs Boston, vs Utah, vs Utah, @Dallas, @Dallas, vs Denver, @LA, @ Portland, vs Phoenix, vs New York.

That's 12 playoff teams right there.

If you believe the reporting that AD will be back in a week and Lebron not too long after that, I still see the Lakers holding onto the 5 seed. Also, a healthy Lakers would still have the final 3-4 weeks of the season to move up the standings if they need to.

you guys know what the play in tournament format is right?

you guys know it's not 7 vs 10, 8 vs 9 single elim right?

you guys know the lakers finishing 7 or 8 seed means they would (currently) play the grizzlies right?

and only if they lose, then they'd play the winner of the 9th/10th seed (currently warriors/spurs) right?

I really want play the blazers first and we will avoid play in

People have been bashing the Laker's supporting cast, but the truth is once Schroder came back they've played solid basketball. In fact, I don't think the record of the Lakers with LeBron - Schroder and AD is all that different from with Schroder - LeBron and AD. They are 4-6 of their last ten, hardly a free fall.

The trick is they had a really good record, and 7 and 8 aren't exactly killing it. Sure the Mavs are 7-3 in their last 10 games, but they are 3.5 games down. The Lakers would have to keep playing sub .500 basketball and the Mavs would have to keep winning. It doesn't seem all that likely with such a sizable gap. Even if the Lakers end up 44-28, that's what a .611 winning percentage? Mavs are .560, that puts the Lakers at a 5 seed. They'd have to do something like lose 8 out of 10 or along those lines for this to become a real concern.

The way I see it, the Lakers are likely to have a 4-6 seed and avoid the play-in entirely. This will likely have negative connotations for home court advantage and keep them from playing a cupcake in round one, but it doesn't put any tremendous obstacles in their path.

The question is can the Mavs win enough to jump them.

And yea the Grizz are young and not there yet but you just don't a one game playoff againts Ja especially if they are injured a 7 games yes but not a 1 game.

KrAzY3 wrote:People have been bashing the Laker's supporting cast, but the truth is once Schroder came back they've played solid basketball. In fact, I don't think the record of the Lakers with LeBron - Schroder and AD is all that different from with Schroder - LeBron and AD. They are 4-6 of their last ten, hardly a free fall.

The trick is they had a really good record, and 7 and 8 aren't exactly killing it. Sure the Mavs are 7-3 in their last 10 games, but they are 3.5 games down. The Lakers would have to keep playing sub .500 basketball and the Mavs would have to keep winning. It doesn't seem all that likely with such a sizable gap. Even if the Lakers end up 44-28, that's what a .611 winning percentage? Mavs are .560, that puts the Lakers at a 5 seed. They'd have to do something like lose 8 out of 10 or along those lines for this to become a real concern.

The way I see it, the Lakers are likely to have a 4-6 seed and avoid the play-in entirely. This will likely have negative connotations for home court advantage and keep them from playing a cupcake in round one, but it doesn't put any tremendous obstacles in their path.

I don’t about all that. Lakers did play a very good game vs. the Kings, but have had some solid luck when playing the other games. Cavs were without Sexton and looked punchless on offense, Magic were with their G-League team (though that team play some good games), Raptors were without Lowry/FVV and have given up.

But things looked pretty bleak when Lebron went down. The below numbers with Lebron OFF were much worse a few weeks ago.

Lakers With LeBron ON court per 100 possessions (4/8/2021):

Caruso: +18.8
AD: +14.6
Wes: +10.3
Gasol: +10.1
Kuzma: +8.2
THT: +8.1
KCP: +7.9
Schroeder: +7.4
Trezl: +7.4
Morris: +3.9

Lakers With LeBron off court per 100 possessions (4/8/2021):

Trezl: +1.9
Caruso: -.7
KCP: -1.8
Schroeder: -2.3
THT: -2.9
Kuzma: -3.6
AD: -4.7
Morris: -6.8
Wes: -7.5
Gasol: -9.7

BTW, LeBron on court, AD+Schroeder OFF

+7.9

Are there cupcakes in the west? I mean down there fighting for their lives are two teams with what yall say are transcendent players with Zion and Curry.

Id rather LA play Utah first than the clippers. Catching Utah before they have playoff success could make for an easier series.

homecourtloss wrote:I don’t about all that.

You certainly don't, you posted a bunch of stuff and absolutely nothing about wins and losses, which is actually what determines the standings.

So they're 3.5 games up on the Mavs right now and Porzingis is going to miss some time now (they were playing well before that). I think there's a decent chance they manage to stay ahead of the Mavs and finish 6th (I do think the Blazers pass them). If the Lakers are going to be 6 or 7, there's going to be a lot of chicanery by the Suns, Clippers and Nuggets to avoid them in the first round, although frankly if you have to play them at some point you might want to do it in the first round.

maybe they do maybe they dont.

I'm worried about my Lakers.

AD's injury is serious enough, Lebron's ankle injury is serious, if neither comes back fully healthy, nothing matters. Also, if we meet the Clippers in the first round.... that is a 50/50 proposition.

Does it really matter? If you're a 2 or 3 seed and have to play a healthy Laker team in the first round with barely any fans in your arena, I'd say that's an absolute nightmare scenario.

They're likely to fall to 7th at some point, it's just a question of whether or not they can dig themselves out of it in time. Anything can happen in two games vs. two different opponents.

The play in game might be better for them due to avoid playing the Clippers or Nuggets. Most people would prefer the Suns and Jazz over Clips and Nuggs

LakersNavy wrote:

PrinceCliche wrote:[streamable][/streamable]

LakersNavy wrote:Lakers will avoid the play-in. I think they'll end up as the 5 seed and play the Clippers in the first round

Did you see their schedule of the playoff teams?

@ Miami, @Brooklyn, vs Boston, vs Utah, vs Utah, @Dallas, @Dallas, vs Denver, @LA, @ Portland, vs Phoenix, vs New York.

That's 12 playoff teams right there.

If you believe the reporting that AD will be back in a week and Lebron not too long after that, I still see the Lakers holding onto the 5 seed. Also, a healthy Lakers would still have the final 3-4 weeks of the season to move up the standings if they need to.

If there’s one thing I’m certain of, the Lakers will not be rushing either of their stars back on the court and jeopardize having them miss playoff games with a reoccurring injury. Everyone just watched Brooklyn rush Harden back and it lasted 4 minutes and probably cost them another 2-3 weeks of getting him healthy.

The health of AD and Lebron is far more important than seeding because this playoffs will be a slog.
I think they will end up a rested 7th seed

Before last night i would have saif mavs were gonna catch up. But losing to bloody houston...no, mavs might catch portland, but thats about it