The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t performed up to par this season and don’t seem to have learned from their successful run to the Western Conference Finals the previous year. On the other hand, you should never wager against a team captained by LeBron James.
The Lakers have improved their play and won eleven of their last fifteen games with the playoffs on the line. This includes victories against the Cavaliers, Timberwolves, and Bucks.
This is fantastic news for all basketball lovers who want to watch LeBron James and Anthony Davis play at the top level. James is still scoring between 20 and 40 points each game at the age of 39, and Davis is playing excellently on both sides of the court. They spent the majority of the season in the bottom of the Play-In Tournament standings, giving the impression that they might not even make it to the playoffs earlier this year.
They are now just half a game behind the seventh-place Pelicans and one and a half games behind the sixth-place Suns, which is a significant improvement following their most recent outburst. This is a serious issue for the Sacramento Kings. Although they have the advantage in the tiebreaker, the Lakers moved up to ninth place in the Western Conference after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-97.
What would it imply if the Kings placed lower than halfway during the Play-In Tournament?
Luckily for the Kings, the Lakers’ remaining schedule is difficult. The Timberwolves, Warriors, Grizzlies, and Pelicans are their next four opponents. Of those teams, three are still in it for the win and a chance to get past the Lakers.
But the Kings still have a difficult schedule ahead of them. They still have some difficult games ahead of them against the Thunder, Suns, and Pelicans. Therefore, it’s not out of the question that Sacramento will position ninth at the end of the regular season.
Positively, that is still a lot better than the Kings missing the playoffs completely, as they did for a great number of seasons. Conversely, the teams ranked ninth and tenth will face an extremely tough Play-In Tournament, needing to win two games to advance.
In the event that the standings stay mostly unchanged, the Kings would have to play the Warriors in a single-elimination game and would have to choose between losing and finishing the season early or winning and facing the winner of the Pelicans-Lakers game. The Kings have had difficulty competing against the Warriors, and it will be difficult to stay up with them with the absence of Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk in particular.
Still, it’s not insurmountable. After all, the Warriors are no longer what they once were. The Kings had best hope that the Pelicans defeat the Lakers if they manage to win. This season, New Orleans has been a nightmare to play against. Even though it would be terrifying to play LeBron James in a single-elimination match, it would still be preferable. Every time Domantas Sabonis plays with Anthony Davis, he plays exceptionally well.
It’s still not ideal to finish in the bottom half of the Play-In Tournament, especially with the Kings’ hopes pinned so high for the postseason.