The Lakers will play the Hawks at home on January 8, and the Purple and Gold Army, which has won three consecutive games, will strive to continue the victory and secure the top six positions in the West. The Lakers will also hit 5 milestones in this game.
First, James has 9872 assists in history, and if he has 15 assists, he can catch up with Oscar Robertson and tie for seventh in history. James has seen a slight decline in assists this season, averaging 6.5 assists per game, and the highest single assists this season is 11. It is not difficult for James to surpass big O in this battle.
Second, James has reached 2109 career steals, and if he steals 4 times in this game, he can surpass Alvin Robertson and rise to the tenth place in the all-time steals list.
Third, Howard finished 44th with 388,930 minutes played, just 10 minutes behind Walter Bellamy. In this game, Howard can surpass Bellamy in just 11 minutes to rise to 43rd place in playing time.
Fourth, Westbrook has scored 5388 goals to rank 30th in history, and this game only needs to score 5 goals to surpass Patrick Ewing to 29th, and if he can score 7 goals, Westbrooker will surpass Lenny Wilkens to rise to 28th in history.
Fifth, Ariza has made 1,616 steals in his career, tied for 32nd place with Rod Strickland, and can be 32nd in history with just one steal.
The Lakers currently rank sixth in the West with a record of 20 wins and 19 losses, and if this ranking is maintained, then the Lakers can directly enter the playoffs without playing the playoffs. The Lakers are now just 0.5 wins ahead of the Seventh-place Nuggets in the West. For the Lakers, it's best to continue to improve the rankings and move up to fifth in the West, so that the first round can play the Suns, Warriors and Jazz.
If the Lakers move up to fifth in the West, the first round is likely to play against the Grizzlies. Of course, the regular season is not halfway through, and the pattern may change. But for the Lakers, the Hawks, who have less than 50% home wins, are games that must be won.