Just a year ago, James said the man who proposed the play-off system should be fired.
Today, for the Lakers, who have lost 10 of their last 13 games and fallen to tenth in the West, the person who proposed the playoffs should perhaps be promoted and raised.
Because, the playoffs have become the lakers' final straw and the final fig leaf for the 2021-22 season.
The play-offs were first created in the 2020 suspension of the rematch, which was a stopgap measure at the time, and after the implementation, it was found that the effect was good, the game was very exciting, and the ratings were quite high, so the specific rules were slightly modified and used to this day.
The format is very simple, the top six in the regular season east and west directly into the playoffs, the seventh to tenth in the east and west to participate in the playoffs, the seventh home to meet the eighth, the winner locks the seventh seed in the playoffs, the ninth home against the tenth, the loser is out, the winner will compete with the team that lost seven games before (home) for the eighth seeded seat.
The Lakers are currently ranked tenth in the West with 30 wins and 41 losses, their theoretical best record this season is 41 wins and 41 losses, the Timberwolves who have risen to sixth place in the West have 42 wins, the Lakers have completely lost the opportunity to grab the top six seats and directly enter the playoffs, if they do not want to go home after the regular season, the only way is to play the playoffs to get a playoff ticket.
The Lakers have played like this this season, even if they enter the playoffs, it is probably only a round of travel, is it meaningful to play the playoffs? It's really big, because the Bass family is different from most team owners in the league, the Lakers are their main business rather than a side business, the Lakers have been too disappointing this season, the home attendance rate has hit a new low since the 2005-06 season, if the Lakers play even the playoffs are not played, the ticket and related product income will be greatly discounted, and the Bass family, which is not "rich" among the team owners, can't stand it. In addition, the Lakers have contracts with local broadcasters, and if they fall out of the playoff area, local broadcast fees will also be affected.
Moreover, the Lakers' 2022 first-round pick is not in their own hands, the top ten to the Pelicans, the 11th to 30th places to the Grizzlies, betting on the draft is meaningless for the Lakers, so they are now playing like this, not want to mess up, but really a little rotten in strength.
The Seventh Nuggets in the West have 42 wins, the Lakers certainly can't catch up, their current ranking theory ceiling is the eighth in the West, but this is only theoretical, the Lakers are 5 wins behind the eighth Clippers in the West, playing the Clippers 0-4 this season, with only 11 games left in the regular season, the probability of catching up with the Clippers is quite low.
Realistically, what the Lakers need to consider now is not who to catch up with, but to stop being caught up by others. After beating the Hawks, the Pelicans and the Lakers are 30-41, they have won one time against the Lakers this season, ranking past the Lakers to ninth in the West with a record of confrontation, and the Lakers fell to tenth. The Lakers will play two games with the Pelicans next, which will be a nine-card battle. If the Lakers eventually lock in the tenth place in the West, it means that there is no home advantage in the two rounds of the playoffs, and the Lakers have a 29% away win rate this season.
Only finishing tenth is not the worst, is there a possibility that the Lakers fell out of the playoffs?
The Lakers are 2.5 and 3.5 wins ahead of the 11th Spurs and 12th Trail Blazers in the West, the Lakers have completed the regular season with the Spurs and the Blazers this season, and the Lakers have no head-to-head record advantage, once the two teams win and lose the same situation, it is necessary to compare the results of the Western team, the Spurs are currently in this regard (18 wins and 24 losses) and the Lakers (16 wins and 27 losses), so the Lakers do not wave, it is best to directly suppress the regular season record.
If calculated according to the current winning rate, the spurs and the Blazers may win about 31 games, and the Lakers have 30 wins, which seems to be not overtaken by the hand, but the actual situation is far more complicated than a simple win rate calculation.
We divide the Lakers, Spurs and Trail Blazers into three gears, the first is the top six in the East and West, the second is the seventh to tenth in the East and West, and the third is the 11th to 15th in the East and West, to see the difficulty of the three teams' schedule.
Lakers
First-tier teams: Cavaliers, 76ers, Lone Rangers, Jazz, Suns, Warriors.
Second-pot teams: Nuggets (played twice), Pelicans (played twice).
Third-pot team: Thunder.
spur
First team: Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Warriors, Lone Rangers.
Second-pot teams: Nuggets, Pelicans.
Third-tier teams: Trail Blazers (played three times), Rockets.
trailblazer
First team: Lone Rangers, Jazz.
Second gear team: Pelicans (played twice).
Third-tier teams: Pistons, Spurs (played twice), Rockets (played twice), Thunder (played twice).
The Lakers have 11 remaining regular season games, 6 of which are currently in the top six teams in the East and West, two games against the Pelicans, and two games against the Nuggets, although the Nuggets are included in the second bracket, their strength is obvious to all. The Lakers have only one third-gear team, who designed this schedule, should it be fired?
The Spurs played 10 games, playing four against the first-pot team and four against the third-pot team. The Blazers have only met first-gear opponents in two of their 12 games, and teams in third-gear have to play eight.
The difficulty of the schedule of these three teams is clear at a glance.
To be honest, the Spurs and the Blazers are still a bit of a mess, especially the Blazers, Lillard is still recuperating, Anfinni Simmons, who just played the rise game, is also injured, and the Blazers' 2022 first-round pick can only stay if they enter the lottery zone, otherwise they will be given to the Bulls.
The Blazers want to rot to the end, and then bet on the draft, they have lost 10 of their last 11 games, 7 of which have been defeated with a 30+ point difference, but even so, the Blazers found that they still have the opportunity to compete for a play-off seat, and the rest of the schedule is quite relaxed, with the three major swings of the Pistons, Thunder, Rockets have to play against each other, the Thunder and rockets have to play twice. While the Blazers still have two games to play against the top six teams in the East and West, they are the last two games of the regular season against the Mavericks and Jazz, and opponents may take turns at that time.
The Lakers are bitter and want to win but touch the devil's schedule. The Blazers are also depressed, want to lose and meet opponents who can "play" more than them, what if they accidentally win?
The Spurs and Blazers will have to play a total of 3 games with the Pelicans, and the Spurs and Blazers will have to fight 3 games against each other, which forms a chain set, if the Lakers do not compete, first grab nine and then fall out of the playoff area, it is possible.
The Lakers are dangerous, but they don't have to be so nervous, after all, they still have a winning lead over the Spurs and Blazers. The Lakers have a total of 5 wins and 8 losses against the 6 first-gear teams they are about to encounter this season, and according to this win rate, the Lakers may get about 3 wins from these strong teams next, not to "grass and grass".
If the Lakers can play well against the Pelicans, don't overturn the Thunder, and pick up a leak in the strong team, they will remain in the playoff area or be stable.
The Lakers still have a point of hope now, and that is Anthony Davis' comeback. When the ankle was injured, he was suspected of a fracture, and his foot was swollen like a softball, but fortunately the final diagnosis was a sprain, and he has now returned to the shooting training stage, and it is still possible to come back in the final stage of the regular season.
Wait until the thick eyebrow brother returns, the Lakers will strengthen at both ends of the attack and defense, but the Lakers also have to consider a realistic problem, the playoffs will start two days after the end of the regular season, the Lakers need to adjust the state of the thick eyebrows to adapt to the rhythm of the game and confrontation, otherwise the intensity of the playoffs will not be able to play well, and there will be hidden dangers of being injured again.
So the Lakers' ideal model is to secure a playoff spot before the return of the thick eyebrow brother, leave two or three games to warm up for the thick eyebrow, and then go all out to play the playoffs for the playoff seat.
To achieve this goal, it depends on James and Westbrook, two of the three games the Lakers have won recently were James bombing 50+, and the other was Thatcher played a high-efficiency triple-double and hit the limit of the three points. Now discuss the Lakers management's operational mistakes, the coaching team's system and employment drawbacks are of little significance, these must be left until the offseason, the Lakers need a giant planet now, nothing else can help them.
Hollywood teams, to have Hollywood plots, heroes come, save the world.