The Los Angeles Lakers won’t have home-court advantage in the
first round of the Western Conference playoffs. They need help if
they’re going to escape the play-in tournament. Worse yet, their
invitation to the postseason isn’t even guaranteed.
The defending NBA champions might be in trouble.
It’s very simple for the Lakers: They win most of their games
when LeBron James plays and lose most of their games when he
doesn't. With him sidelined for 23 of the Lakers' last 25 games,
they've fallen to No. 7 in the West — as low as they have been
since late December. The most likely fate for them is playing a
game (or two) in the new play-in round that awaits the teams
finishing between seventh and 10th in each conference.
“We can’t worry about that,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said
Friday night after his team lost in Portland to fall to the
seventh spot.
James indicated several days ago
that he’s not exactly a proponent of the play-in games, saying the
person at NBA headquarters who came up with the idea should be
fired. But if the Lakers don’t win most of their remaining five
games, the play-in round awaits.
“Wherever we land, we’re confident," Vogel said, “Obviously, we
want to finish in the top six. We still have five games to make up
some ground if that’s possible. And we’ll continue to try to win as
many of those games as we can.”
Dallas entered Saturday at No. 5 in the West at 39-28, Portland
was No. 6 at 38-29 and the Lakers No. 7 at 37-30. The Lakers would
lose tiebreakers against either the Blazers or Mavericks, lowering
their odds of escaping the No. 7 spot.
That said, James — who has been dealing with a high ankle sprain
— may return in the next few days, presumably to get into playoff
shape and rebuild some chemistry. That means the champs have at
least some reason for hope.
“When we’re 100% healthy, we’re one of — no, we are the top team
in the league,” fellow Lakers All-Star forward Anthony Davis
said.
Many bettors agree.
FanDuel Sportsbook still listed the
Lakers on Saturday with the second-shortest odds to win the NBA
title, behind only Brooklyn in that category. The Lakers were
heavy favorites to win the title entering the season.
“Obviously, we don’t want to go that route,” Davis said of the
play-in. “But if it happens, it happens.”
Portland still has games left against Utah, Phoenix and Denver —
three of the top four teams in the West. Dallas is in great shape,
with its final five games against teams with a combined .392
winning percentage.
The Lakers' final five games could include as many as four
matchups against teams playing for something. Phoenix visits Los
Angeles on Sunday, New York comes in Tuesday and lottery-bound
Houston visits Wednesday. The Lakers end the regular season with a
road back-to-back against Indiana and New Orleans — both play-in
hopefuls — next weekend.
“When we get everyone healthy, especially headed to the
playoffs, we know the type of team that we are, and I think the
league knows the type of team that we are,” Davis said.
It’s not just James who has been sidelined. The Lakers are also
missing, among others, point guard Dennis Schröder, who will likely
not be able to play for several more days while going through the
NBA’s health and safety protocols in place this season to deal with
coronavirus-related matters.
The whole year has been an injury roller coaster for the champs.
James and Davis — who missed 35 games, most of those with a right
calf strain — have appeared in only 25 games together all season;
the Lakers are 17-8 in those games. The last time they were
together in a game the Lakers won was Feb. 12.
“We're in an adjustment phase, like we've been all year," Vogel
said.
The Lakers are 28-15 when James plays this season, 9-15 when he
doesn’t. They were No. 2 in the West to begin March 20, the day
James suffered the ankle sprain. Starting with that game against
Atlanta, they've gone 9-17 and fallen steadily down the West
standings.
If the Lakers finish seventh, they’ll have two chances, both at
home, to win one game and make the West playoffs. But Vogel knows
in a one-game scenario, anything can happen.
“There’s just too many things that can happen in a one-game
series — foul trouble, roll of an ankle, anything like that could
pop up,” Vogel said. “So, we definitely want to finish in the top
six. It’s a high priority for us. But at the same time, if we end
up in the play-in tournament, I’m confident in our group.”
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and
https://twitter.com/AP_Sports