December Prediction: We’ll find out how good the Lakers really are
The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a hot start. They’re currently 17-3 and have already accumulated a 2.5 game lead over the Denver Nuggets for the top seed in the Western Conference.
If they can keep that up, it’s a pace of roughly 73 wins which would have them challenging the Warriors’ record for most wins in a regular season. That being said, their schedule has been as soft as you can get in the Western Conference (26th ranked strength of schedule, last among Western Conference teams).
That’s not a knock against the Lakers, 17-3 is still 17-3 and you don’t get to make your own schedule. All it means is that we don’t actually know how good they are until they have to play some tougher teams. That’s all about to change though, as they have the toughest December schedule in the NBA.
Regardless of what happens in December, the Lakers will still be one of the strongest handful of contenders in the league, that isn’t in question. What is in question is whether or not they’re THE strongest contender in the league. Based on November’s results you’d have to say yes, but let’s wait until the end of December before we get too carried away.
If the Lakers are still leading the conference when you wake up on January 1st with a pounding headache and the thought of going to work the next day is making you physically ill, then all of the Laker hype will have been justified. If not, take some ibuprofen, think of an excuse to not go to work on January 2nd, and brace yourself for a wild race out West.