In the offseason, when the Lakers traded Westbrook from the Wizards and formed a "360 combination" with James and Thick Brow, the outside world once thought they would be championship contenders. But by the end of the season, the Lakers had only a record of 30 wins and 41 losses, ranking 9th in the West. With 11 games left in the regular season, the Lakers are still working on playoff tickets.
In today's back-to-back game against the Wizards, James and Westbrook scored 60 points, but the Lakers still lost to their opponents 119-127, missing two consecutive wins. In this game, the Lakers lost a lot, and the fourth quarter was blown up by the Wizards' Porzingis alone. The Lakers failed to seize the opportunity to win this crucial game. The rest of the schedule will be very tough.
According to the game, the Lakers have 11 games left in the regular season, and 8 of them have been determined to enter the playoffs. In the face of these teams, the Lakers are hard to win. Of the remaining 3 games, 2 games were against playoff direct rivals, the Pelicans, once again against the Thunder. This season, the Thunder have doubled against the Lakers.
In the past, James's team has usually confirmed a playoff spot in March, but the Lakers team has still not found the formula to win after more than 70 games. Do the Lakers have a chance to miss the NBA playoffs and playoffs? According to data site FiveThirtyEight's predictions, the Lakers have only a 6% chance of making it to the NBA playoffs. That's much lower than other teams like the Timberwolves (94 percent), Clippers (68 percent) and Pelicans (32 percent).
According to The Ringer's Odds Machine, the Lakers have an 82 percent chance of making it to the Western Conference playoffs. The Spurs behind them (28 percent) are the biggest challengers. Compared to the Lakers' difficult game, the Spurs' next opponents are average, they will play against the Blazers three times, against the Rockets once, and once against the Pelicans.