After being on life support for first 76 games of the regular season, thanks to parity the #8 Los Angeles Lakers are perfectly positioned with 6 games to go to jump the #7 Wolves and #6 Warriors and win the #6 seed in the West.
Tomorrow night, the #8 Lakers visit the #7 Timberwolves in a game that could catapult Los Angeles past Minnesota to take over the #7 seed in the West, getting home court advantage in the Play-In Game for 7th seed.
A win tomorrow night would also leave the Lakers 1 loss from being able to use their tie-breaker to knock Golden State into the Play-In Tournament and steal the #6 seed in the West and guaranteed playoff spot from them.
After a season filled with the constant pressure of ‘must win’ games, the last thing the Lakers want at this point in the season is to be forced to win one or two crucial games in the Play-In Tourney to make the NBA playoffs.
The Lakers will be under intense win-or-go-home pressure for each of their next 6 games while still facing a daunting challenge trying to reintegrate LeBron James into a lineup that finally learned how to win without him.
Here are four compelling reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers desperately need to win the 6th seed in the West over the next 6 games to avoid having to participate in what is likely to be a tough, gruelling Play-In Tournament.
1. 6th Seed Guarantees Playoff Spot
The biggest benefit of winning the 6th seed in the West is the team is one of the six teams who are guaranteed a spot in the NBA playoffs. Unlike the four teams who finished 7th through 10th, 6th seed can relax. They’re in.
2. 6th Seed Gets Week Off Before Playoffs
The next big advantage of winning the 6th seed is a week off before the playoffs. For a team like the Lakers, getting a week for LeBron and AD to rest and recover and the team to actually practice together would be gold.
3. 6th Seed Plays 3rd Seed Sacramento Kings
Unlike the 7th through 10th seeds, the 6th seed knows they will play the 3rd seed in the first round of the playoffs. Frankly, there is no better first round opponent for this Lakers team than the playoff newbie Sacramento Kings.
4. 6th Seed Avoids Nuggets and Clippers
The other benefit of winning 6th seed is not having to meet #1 Nuggets, #4 Suns, #5 Clippers, or whomever emerges from the Play-In as #8. Our bracket inclues #6 Kings, #2 Grizzies, and whoever wins the #7 seed.
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1641580792953577472
All about us and every game here out.
Warriors will be 1 loss ahead of us if we win tomorrow night and we have tie breaker. They have 3 tough road games and are poor on the road so there’s a chance they could lose a couple. Lakers probably need to go 6-0 or 5-1 at worst to win #6.