The Los Angeles Lakers have not performed well this season, with only 28 wins and 37 losses so far, and today they lost to the Houston Rockets in overtime, and their plans to hit the top six in the West have been frustrated again.
However, from the current point of view, the lakers are not very likely to fall out of the top ten in the West, because the strength of the opponents behind them is really not good. The Portland Trail Blazers trailed the Lakers by three wins and ranked 11th in the West, while the New Orleans Pelicans were 10th in the West, 1.5 wins behind the Lakers, losing to the Orlando Magic today.
To make matters worse, the Pelicans have one less core player, and that's Ingram. Previously, against the Denver Nuggets, Ingram played for 40 minutes and felt uncomfortable in his legs after the game. After an MRI examination, Ingram was found to have a hamstring strain, and he needed to make a truce before rechecking after 7 to 10 days.
In the last two pelicans games, Ingram did not participate. McCollum, traded from the Blazers, performed well, and center Valanciunas also did his best to shoot down 30 points, but the Pelicans still lost to the Magic today.
According to statistics, in the games that Ingram missed this season, the Pelicans' record is 2 wins and 14 losses, which is very ugly. If Ingram can't play for a long time after that, it will be very difficult for them to catch up with the Lakers.
The Lakers lost 130-139 to the bottom of the league to the Houston Rockets in overtime today, which is ugly enough, and the result is still not falling out of the top ten in the West, you can imagine how bad their opponents are. The Pelicans' Zion has not yet returned, and Ingram is injured again, which is really a disaster.