Teams have played nearly 60 games this season. So far, the Lakers have not met the expectations of people before the season. They are currently only ninth in the West. It's two wins away from eighth-place Clippers in the West. The current situation of the Lakers is still very serious. They're likely to play the play-offs this season. And actually entering the playoffs will be decided between one or two playoff spots, so the Lakers have too much uncertainty this season, and whether they can enter the playoffs or even put a question mark.
The Lakers wasted their sweet schedule at the start of the season. At that time, the Lakers' schedule was very relaxed, and the opponents they encountered were very weak, but they did not grasp the advantage of the schedule at that time. Losing one after another against some extremely weak teams has led to them not accumulating a good record so far. The next schedule is very challenging for the Lakers.
Their sweet schedule of the season is long past, and they will be greeted by a series of devil's schedules. In the next six games they will encounter strong opponents in succession. Two of them will be the Clippers. Also face such a strong team as the Jazz, the Warriors. So the next six games will further change the Lakers' rankings. In particular, these two games against the Clippers will directly affect the Lakers' situation of competing in the playoffs this year.
The Clippers are still a very tough team, and although they are currently missing Paul George and Leonard, they have strengthened the roster before the trade deadline and got excellent 3D players like Covington. So the Lakers are not very sure of winning against the Clippers. If the Lakers want to do well in the next two Clippers games, then James must come up with his own "full strength" model. That is, to show the momentum of their playoffs. Only then will they be able to gain an advantage.
If the Lakers fail to make the playoffs this year, then there is no doubt that they will be set on the shame column of history. At the beginning of the season, people had high hopes for the Lakers, and their lineup was even phenomenal. In the next game, James must ensure that the Lakers can enter the playoffs, because this is the only bottom line for them to save their dignity.