The Los Angeles Lakers are entering a pivotal moment in their schedule after the All-Star break. With just 23 games left in the regular season, the Lakers have 5 games under 0.500 (27-32) and have 7 runs where they’ll play all WWestern Cenemies of the conference, starting with the Golden State Warriors, Thursday night. First-year head coach Darvin Ham spoke on Wednesday about the team’s goals and what they are striving for this long way.
“Yes, the goal is for us to go out and try to be the best version of ourselves in every game, but for sure, if we can go and secure a place, that is our goal. we’re right there,” Jaws said. “If we are in a play-in situation, so be it. But our #1 goal is to secure a spot [and] don’t just throw the game here or there [and] just wanted a play-in. We want to go secure a spot.
Over the next seven games, L.ONE. will play Golden State twiceDallas, Memphis twice, Oklahoma City and Minnesota. All these teams are now ahead belong to Lakers in charts. Right now, Los Angeles To be two games in addition to the last playing slot occupied by Thunder. Lakers and Thunder take a break in March 1 in OKC and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looking for some payback on LeBron James after he blocked his dribbling attempt in the All-Star game.
It’s good to know Ham is keeping up with his expectations for this Lakers team, but putting this plan into action is a lot easier said than done. James has been playing in a game since the new setup all time scoring record more than two weeks ago. It’s funny how he got into that game right before the All-Star break with New Orleans. If you buy this ankle-injured crap, you’ll get more power. But apparently it’s not so bad that he can’t play those games right after he overcome Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the book of records.
Need more than LeBron
At this point, Ham can’t count on LeBron to play every game, injured or not, and we’ve never really been able to count on Anthony Davis’ health. All the trading deadline moves in the world would be nothing without those two in the lineup. Bringing D’Angelo Russell back to LOIONE. will be useful as long as there aren’t any camera phones around him in dressing room. The addition of Russell is a great pick and makes for a great third pick who can knock open shots. But without Bron and AD on the floor constantly, the odds of the Lakers making a playoff are slim.
Of course, every team wants to avoid the one-game play-in scenario, but in reality this is the best option for LA. James is still great when he’s out there but needs help more than ever, and rightfully so. It’s tough when the main guy tasked with helping rarely plays. The odds of the Lakers winning enough games to make it into the top six in the West are on par with Stephen A. Smith saying nothing serious the next time he’s on the air. Or SAS being invited to a Rihanna fan party. It doesn’t happen.
Los Angeles needs to win at least five of the next seven games to make it any significant in the rankings. Their stars need to be played. This team isn’t deep enough to miss either star for a significant amount of time, as we’ve seen since they won the bubble championship in 2020. Good luck, the Lakers. You will definitely need it.
