As the NBA regular season draws to a close, the Top 8 Clippers in the West have locked up playoff qualifications, which means that there are only two places left in the Western Conference Playoffs, and these two spots will be created between the Pelicans, Spurs, and Lakers. Today the Lakers at home 3 points unfortunately lost the Pelicans suffered 5 consecutive losses, the Spurs won the Blazers, so the Lakers trailed the Pelicans 3 games, behind the Spurs 1 game, from the beginning of the season to the championship team, to now about to miss the play-off, the Lakers this season is obviously a failure, there are still 5 games in the regular season, leaving the Lakers time is not much.
Let's take a look at the Lakers' lineup at the beginning of the season: James, Thick Brow, Westbrook, Anthony, Howard, Rondo, Ariza, Munch, Reeves, Tucker, Ellington, Bradley, Bezmore, Nunn. There are 4 75 players in this lineup, 6 future Hall of Famers, when this lineup was formed, many fans shouted the Lakers championship, and the media once thought that the big ending was over.
But then due to the injury of the thick eyebrows, he has only played 38 games this season, James has only played 58 games because of injuries, and Wei Shao, who is the most scolded by the fans in the Big Three, is the most attending, and he currently plays 76 games, that is, only 1 off. The Lakers are currently ranked 11th in the West due to injuries and run-in problems, and will not qualify for the playoffs.
The Pelicans, currently 9th in the West, are 34-43, the 10th-in-0 Spurs in the West are 32-45, and the 11th-placed Lakers in the West are 31-46. All three teams have 5 games to play, and the Pelicans' record against the Lakers this season is 3-0, which means that even if the Lakers and the Pelicans are tied in the final record, they will fall behind because of each other's records.
The Lakers and Spurs have met 4 times in the regular season, and the two sides have reached a 2 draw, but because the Spurs' record against the Western team is better than that of the Lakers, that is to say, if the Lakers and Spurs are evenly recorded in the end, the Lakers are still ranked behind the Spurs, so the Lakers want to qualify, at least one more win than the Spurs.
With the Lakers three games ahead and five games remaining, the Pelicans only need to win two to qualify for the playoffs. The Pelicans' next opponents are the Clippers, Kings, Trail Blazers, Grizzlies, and Warriors. The Pelicans are sure to beat the Kings and Trail Blazers, so the Pelicans have a good chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
There is still a place for the Spurs to lead the Lakers by one win, and the Spurs can ensure promotion if they win 4 games. The Spurs' next opponents are the Blazers, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Warriors, and Lone Rangers. The Blazers are sure to win these 5 opponents, and the other 4 teams have not yet locked up the rankings and will try to win, so they are not easy for the Spurs. The Warriors are relatively weak because of the lack of Curry, and the Spurs may also win, and the Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Lone Rangers need to see the impromptu play. Based on the Spurs' 2 wins and 3 losses, the Spurs' final record is 34 wins and 48 losses.
The Lakers' next opponents are the Nuggets, Suns, Warriors, Thunder, and Nuggets. Although the Lakers are currently in a combination of the big three, and it seems that the state is good, but these 5 opponents they only have the Thunder to be sure of winning, the Warriors Lakers can also fight for it, the Suns ranking has been locked, it is not expected to be so hard to play, even if the Lakers can win 3 games, so that the Lakers' final record is also 34 wins and 48 losses, or will be eliminated by the Spurs.
Here we noticed that the Lakers want to play the Nuggets twice, the Spurs have to play the Nuggets once, and the Nuggets coach Malone is Popovich's apprentice, the NBA is also humane, do not rule out the key moments the Nuggets will release the Spurs one, and strongly block the Lakers two games of the possibility. In these 5 games, as long as the Spurs win 1 game, the Lakers must win 2 games, and in the 5 games, the Spurs have a greater chance of winning 2 games, so as long as the Lakers lose 2 games, they have been eliminated.
Overall, the probability of the Lakers advancing to the playoffs this season is already very low, and Vogel said in a post-game interview today: It has become extremely difficult to catch up with the team in front of us. For us, our goal now is to win as many games as possible. At the same time, today's well-known post-game data website FiveThirtyEight updated the probability of the Lakers advancing to the playoffs, leaving only 0.8%.
Realistically, the Lakers have ended this season, but they are not for nothing, at least James' scoring champion is still very sure. James currently tops the scoring list with 30.3 points, and threats to him are Alphabet Brother's 30.1 points and Embiid's 30 points.
But James also has to face the problem of not playing enough 58 games, he has played 56 games this season, and he still needs to play at least 2 of the remaining 5 games. It is foreseeable that in the remaining games, James will definitely increase the number of shots, on the one hand, James has a greater grasp of the shot, in order to compete for the play-off qualification, James needs to stand up and score more points, on the other hand, he can increase his score and increase the chips for the scoring king. So in public and private, James needs to score as many points as possible.
So in the next few games, we can enjoy James's scoring performance, if he gets another 50+, you don't feel strange, but it is also a legend to be able to get the scoring champion at the age of 37.