Last season the Lakers cruised through the NBA playoff bubble on the way to the franchise’s 17th championship. This run was powered by the two-headed monster of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, and it looked like they were set to be a powerhouse in the west early in this season.
They started the season off at an impressive 21-6 but were devastated by injuries to their two superstars and now sit at 37-28 and are the current five seed. They are in a battle with the Trail Blazers and the Mavericks for the five, six, and seven, and the three are just separated by one game. What is significant about this race is that whichever team ends up with the seven seed will have to play in the play-in tournament to secure their spot in the playoffs. LeBron had some harsh words about the play-in, going as far as saying.
“Whoever came up with that idea should be fired.” I am a LeBron supporter and typically never have a problem with anything that he says, but this makes me shake my head. I get that for the past hundred or so years, being an eight seed gets you a trip to the playoffs, but what LeBron doesn’t see is how good this is for the game. The play-in makes more games competitive because more teams are in the playoff mix, keeping more fans involved. He also had no public criticism of the idea until his team wound up as the seven seed after a loss to the Raptors. If he was concerned about the idea, where was the concern at the beginning of the season when the Lakers were a top 3 seed in the west?
Nonetheless, AD and LeBron have returned from their respective injuries recently but are 0-2 in their first games back together. The Lakers added a lot of firepower to their team since last season. In free agency, they signed Dennis Shroeder, Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell, and Wes Matthews. Then in the buyout market, they acquired Andre Drummond and signed Ben McLemore, who has been solid in his NBA return.
What made the Lakers great last year was their commitment on the defensive side of the ball, and they showed that early in this season. In recent weeks, it seems as if they may have toyed with their lineup a little too much and don’t have that same chemistry as their defense is still solid, but nowhere near the level, it was at last year. Their defensive rating puts them at first in the league, but since acquiring Drummond, things have been shaky on that side of the court.
LeBron also had a quote last week when coming back from his ankle injury, saying that he feels like, “ I will never be at 100% again in my career.” If I know LeBron, he is always very calculated about what he says, and this is probably a smokescreen to hope that teams underestimate the Lakers in the playoffs. He has been on a minutes restriction in his two games back but still seems as effective and bouncy as he was earlier in the season.
The Lakers being a lower seed will hurt them in a stacked Western Conference this season. If they end up as the fifth seed, they will have to play their cross-town rivals, the Clippers. That would be a fantastic series but would be very draining as it would probably go to six or seven games. Then if they win that series, they would have to play whoever is the one seed between the Jazz and Suns(assuming they take down the eighth seed). It will not be an easy route this year to the finals, and even if they do make it, they will likely have to meet up with the healthy Brooklyn Nets, which will not be as easy of a matchup as the Heat were last year.
That being said, the Lakers have a strong chance, thanks to others outside of the big two, to step up. Dennis Shroeder has been great this year, averaging 15.5 and 6 assists in his role as a starter after being the sixth man most of his career. Montrezl was solid throughout the season but seems to be taking a backseat to Drummond as he is only averaging 14.5 minutes per game over the last four. Talen Horton-Tucker has been fun to watch evolve this season and shows glimpses of being special in the future. He has an elite scoring arsenal going to the basket, and good shooting mechanics, despite shooting 25% from three, and will hopefully improve as he moves into the playoffs.
The Lakers will need people to play their roles exceptionally well to repeat another playoff run, but if there is one thing NBA fans have learned, it is never to count out LeBron James.
