Now that LeBron James has made his return, we break down how the Los Angeles Lakers can win the 6th seed in the West heading into the NBA Playoffs.
Heading into the final two weeks of the NBA regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers have to officially be in playoff mode. The Lakers can’t afford to drop many games moving forward if they want to ensure their spot in the NBA postseason.
The good news for the Lakers is that LeBron James is officially back. He made his official return over the weekend in the team’s loss against the Chicago Bulls. LeBron came off the bench for the Lakers but looked every bit the player that the Lakers need him to be.
LeBron finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and three assists on 55 percent shooting from the floor in 30 minutes of action. The Lakers lost but it’s a good sign for the team moving forward that LeBron looked good.
With all hands on deck heading into the final stretch for the regular season, there is reason to believe that the Lakers could make a strong push to finish as the West’s 6th seed.
The Los Angeles Lakers need a little help to win the 6-seed in the West
After this weekend’s action, the Lakers currently sit in the 9th seed. They are 37-38 and have seven games remaining in the regular season. To officially win the 6th seed, the Lakers would have to leapfrog the Pelicans, Timberwolves, and Warriors. While that may seem like an unlikely possibility with so few games left, it’s certainly something that could theoretically happen over the course of the next week and a half.
And here’s how it can happen.
First, the Lakers probably need to win 4-5 games of their remaining seven. That’s not undoable considering their schedule. If they can get to 42 wins, that should be enough to finish as the 6th seed in the West. If they finish with the same record as the Warriors, the Lakers would win via a head-to-head tiebreaker.
After that, the Lakers would need the Wolves to go 3-4 in their last seven games. The Lakers don’t own a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Wolves and would need to finish with one more win than them to win the 6th seed over Minnesota.
When it comes to the Pelicans, the Lakers could live with them going 5-3 in their last eight games. They also own the head-to-head tiebreaker over New Orleans and it would seem unlikely that the Pelicans would win five of their next eight. But you never know.
It may seem far-fetched to suggest that the Lakers could win the 6th seed in the West heading into the NBA Playoffs but with LeBron back, it should be back on the table. The last couple of weeks of the NBA season should prove to be quite entertaining and the Lakers are front and center when it comes to what’s left to play for.