The Los Angeles Lakers welcomed the struggling Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night in need of a victory following three days off. The Lakers are nearing the end of their 2023–24 campaign, and since the playoff seeding is becoming more competitive, every game counts for the team.
The Lakers gained the ninth seed in the Western Conference with their victory on Friday and the loss of the Golden State Warriors. In the event that this holds true, the Lakers will host the Warriors in the Play-In Tournament’s opening round. To move up to the eighth seed, the Lakers would still need to win two straight games.
It makes a big difference which seed a team gets in the Play-In Tournament; for example, a club that is ranked eighth rather than ninth may have two opportunities to advance to the playoffs rather than just one. Though this seeding is significant, LeBron James acknowledged a troubling fact during Friday’s game: the Lakers don’t give a damn.
It’s risky for LeBron James to imply the Lakers don’t care about seeding.
Being calm about the circumstance and limiting your control to what your team can manage will eventually pay off. There is no assurance that the Lakers will surpass the Sacramento Kings, even if they win every game they play left on the schedule. Los Angeles only needs to concentrate on managing the manageable, then.
That being said, it’s a worrying indication if you’re not bothered about seeding at all. Being the fifth or sixth seed in this instance does not really make a difference. Every play-in seed has a significant variance, so the Lakers must contend for the ideal circumstances.
You earn two home games as the seventh seed and only need to win one to go to the postseason. You need to win two straight road games as the 10th seed in order to move up to the eighth spot. The two routes are very dissimilar.
Furthermore, there is very little chance that the Lakers could win back-to-back games that would determine whether they would advance or not given their current record. Even if the Lakers managed to defeat the Warriors, they would have very little chance of defeating the Kings, who have already won five straight games.
Depending on who finishes as the seventh seed and whether or not they fall short against the Kings, Los Angeles may also play the Suns or Mavericks. Given that the Lakers still need to defeat the Warriors first, even that fight is difficult.