9th seed – Los Angeles Lakers
It’s looking more and more likely that the Los Angeles Lakers are going to have to win two games in the Play-In Tournament to just qualify for the playoffs. Then, after that, they’ll also have to play against the top-seeded Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers aren’t healthy at the moment and as long as that is the case, it’s hard to see them making any ground in the standings. Anthony Davis is slated to miss a couple of more weeks. By the time he returns, it will likely be too late to make much of a move up the standings.
The Lakers have had a season to forget and it’s hard to see how it’s going to improve all that much over the final few weeks of the season, heading into the playoffs.