When I woke up, it was another "mileage sadness".
James achieved a career total of 37,000+ NBA points in the Lakers' game against the Pelicans, becoming the second Mr. 37,000 points in NBA history and the youngest player to get this statistic.
Then, the Lakers were reversed by the Pelicans with a maximum 23 points lead, losing 108-116.
The Lakers were ninth in the West in the front row, the Pelicans were in tenth place, the ball was a nine-card battle, the Lakers lost 31 wins and 43 losses, the Pelicans returned to ninth with 32 wins and 43 losses, and the Lakers fell to tenth again after 0.5 wins behind the Pelicans. The Lakers have lost both games against the Pelicans this season, although they still have to play one game in the regular season, but even if the Lakers win that game, the record against the Pelicans is also behind, according to the league's ranking rules, once the two teams have the same regular season record, the Pelicans will rank before the Lakers.
The Seventh Timberwolves in the West have won 43 games, the Lakers certainly can't catch up, the Lakers theoretically the highest ranking is the eighth in the West, but they have trailed the Clippers by 4.5 wins, this season against the Clippers 0-4, although the Clippers have been in a bad state for five consecutive losses, but the lakers' probability of overtaking is very low.
The Lakers have to be realistic, they are now the lower limit is to hold the tenth, the upper limit rushed to the ninth. According to play-off rules, the first round is the ninth division playing tenth at home, and the winning team competes with the loser against the seventh and eighth to get the last playoff ticket. The Lakers have won 53% at home and 31% on the road this season, and they can win more in the first round of playoffs at home.
The scramble for a Western Conference playoff spot (ninth and tenth) is basically between the Lakers, Pelicans and Spurs, and while the Blazers and Kings are theoretically possible, the addition of the word "theory" to the sporting event rankings is closer to no play, especially the Blazers, who have lost 13 of their last 15 games and lost two straight games against the Rockets at the bottom of the West in the past two games. On the one hand, the Blazers are really underpowered because of injuries, on the other hand, their 2022 first-round picks will be given to the Bulls if they are not lottery draws, and for a team that intends to rebuild, the first-round pick is very important, so the Blazers are now very capable of "acting".
The Lakers are 0.5 wins behind the Pelicans and one win ahead of the Spurs, which is still a chasable gap, which also means that the Lakers may jump straight to ninth place or dive into the lottery. Exactly how the two tickets for the play-offs are distributed depends on how the three teams perform in the final two weeks of the regular season.
Divide the opponents of the three teams in the next regular season schedule into three levels, the first is the playoff team (the top six in the east and west), the second is the play-off team (the seventh to tenth in the east and west, and the edge team in the playoff like the Spurs), and the third is to swing the team, to see how easy the three teams are in the final stages of the regular season.
Lakers (31 wins, 43 losses, 8 games remaining in the regular season, 3 home and 5 away games)
Playoff teams: Lone Rangers (Lakers away), Jazz (Lakers away), Nuggets (play twice, Lakers home and away once), Suns (Lakers away), Warriors (Lakers away).
Playoff team: Pelicans (Lakers home).
Swing team: Thunder (Lakers home).
The Lakers' last eight regular season games are challenging, not only are there more away games than home, but there are also six meetings with opponents in the top six of the current division, and only one of these six games is home. Lakers this season and the upcoming playoff team playoffs a total of 4 wins and 7 losses, according to this win rate, and considering that the strong team may be in the final stage of the regular season to rest the main force, the Lakers in these 6 games to get 2 or 3 wins may be expected, of course, this depends on the Lakers' play, as well as the opponent's attitude, willing to give the Lakers a convenience.
Objectively speaking, considering that the Lakers' giant planet is the best of the three teams, the Western Conference team may prefer to let the Pelicans or Spurs enter the playoffs.
If the Lakers win 4 of the last 8 games, their regular season wins will be 35, is that enough?
Pelicans (32 wins, 43 losses, 7 games remaining in the regular season, 2 home and 5 away)
Playoff teams: Grizzlies (Pelicans on the road), Warriors (Pelicans home).
Play-off teams: Lakers (Pelicans on the road), Clippers (Pelicans on the road).
Broken teams: Trail Blazers (twice, Pelicans home and one time on the road), Kings (Pelicans on the road).
The Pelicans are also more on the road and less at home, but they only have two playoff games, and these two games are the last two games of the regular season, when the Grizzlies and Warriors may not play with the full force. The Pelicans still have to play two games with the Blazers, and from the paper point of view, the Blazers who have recently focused on defeat may have surrendered directly, but the actual situation is more complicated, because the Blazers have the Pelicans' 2022 first-round pick, provided that they will get 5 to 14, if the Blazers go all out to block the Pelicans, help the Lakers and Spurs, and finally squeeze the Pelicans out of the playoffs, the Blazers have a chance to add another first-round pick.
The pelican's suspense is how much the Grizzlies and Warriors will "release" when the time comes, and whether the Blazers will fight to the death. Because the Pelicans have a record advantage over the Lakers, if the Lakers finally win 35, the Pelicans only need to win 3 in the last 7 games, which is enough to force the Lakers to secure a play-off spot.
Spurs (30 wins, 44 losses, 8 games remaining in the regular season, 4 home and 4 away)
Playoff teams: Grizzlies (Spurs home), Nuggets (Spurs field), Warriors (Spurs home), Lone Rangers (Spurs field).
Play-off team: Timberwolves (Spur assassin field).
Bad teams: Rockets (Spurs field), Blazers (play twice, both at home).
The Spurs' competitive advantage is that the home game is the most of the three teams, and two of them are playing the Blazers, and there is no 2022 draft pick between the Blazers and the Spurs, if the Blazers are dead because of the first round of signing the Pelicans, from the perspective of the overall situation, the Spurs can be let go. After winning two games in a row with the Blazers, the Rockets found that their worst ranking in the league was not so stable, and there was a need to improve "acting", and the Spurs may benefit from it.
If the Spurs win both the Rockets and the Trail Blazers, there will be 33 wins, and the other 5 games will be fought for with full force, and it is possible to form a record streak with the Lakers and Pelicans.
From the perspective of the schedule, the Lakers are the most difficult of the three teams, especially considering the top-ranked teams in the West, they may collectively "play" them to avoid trouble in the playoffs, after all, when Zhan Mei gathers, the Lakers' combat strength is not predicted.
It cannot be ruled out that the final Lakers, Pelicans and Spurs have the same regular season record, if so according to the ranking rules, first of all, to see if there is a division first among the three teams, and then to see the record of the three teams playing against each other.
The first thing in the division has nothing to do with the Lakers, Pelicans and Spurs, once the regular season record is the same, it depends on the three teams playing each other, the Spurs are 5 wins and 3 losses, the Pelicans are 3 wins and 3 losses, and the Lakers' worst is 2 wins and 4 losses. Spurs and Lakers, Pelicans regular season meeting has been completed, the Lakers and Pelicans there is another game, will be played on April 2, is the Lakers' home, the Lakers to win although can not change the pelicans on the disadvantage, but that is the two teams of regular season considerations at the same time, card battle first win and then say, and the Lakers this battle who wins who is not certain.
The situation the Lakers face basically answers the question, is james going to take a break in the final few games of the regular season? When the Lakers were still injured, the platoon deployment was very tangled, the big lineup affected the offensive space, put five small unguarded baskets, as the league's oldest average age team, played to the fourth quarter of the physical fitness red light dazzling, defense is all eyes, offense is all singles, these are all in the pelicans big overturned in the game to get a vivid show. James' focus on scoring this season is something he has never seen in his career, which is no way, and if old Zhan does not actively take points, the Lakers are even less hopeful.
If the right foot sprained thick eyebrow brother if the recovery is going well, it is possible to come back in the first week of April, ideally, the return of the thick eyebrow will send charcoal in the snow at both ends of the attack and defense, he played very well after the last knee injury, but it is also the last time he came back and injured enough to make the Lakers vigilant, the physical durability of the thick eyebrow is really not good, if he can return to the game in early April, the Lakers must also be cautious, and James has to play, unless he can lock the playoff seat in advance, otherwise it is difficult for old Zhan to rest. The current situation of the Lakers is not falling out of the playoff area is already good, and it is a bit "sloppy" to lock in advance.
The Lakers' best script in the regular season, the upper limit that can be reached may be that James continues to slash and kill, the thick eyebrow brother returned in time in April, the Lakers rushed to the ninth place in the West, and James was crowned the oldest scoring king.
Afraid to be afraid, the Lakers will refresh the lower limit. In terms of disappointments, the Lakers this season have rarely disappointed.