With only 10 games left, how many wins will the Lakers have to win to overtake the Suns and squeeze into the top eight in the West?
On March 27, Beijing time, the Lakers started a six-game trip, and the first opponent was the Bucks, which was extremely strong, and the Lakers also took turns to rest James, which seemed to be a strategic abandonment. Unexpectedly, the Lakers players played very tenacious, and after trailing by 17 points in the first quarter, they finally dragged the game into double overtime. Especially in the fourth quarter, relying on tight defense, the Bucks only scored 13 points, and the thick eyebrows successfully defended many times in key rounds, giving the Bucks players psychological shock, Rivers and Russell both exploded, and the Lakers limited the Bucks to only 7 points in the second overtime and won the game smoothly.
After this game, the Lakers also won four in a row, with a record of 40 wins and 32 losses, and continued to rank ninth in the West. However, the Lakers and the Warriors Rockets have opened up the gap, and it is difficult to fall out of the play-offs, and the Lakers' goal should be to hit the top half of the play-offs, that is, the eighth place in the West, so as to ensure that there are two chances in the play-offs, and one win can advance, and the playoff hopes are greatly increased. With only 10 games left, how many wins will the Lakers have to win to overtake the Suns and squeeze into the top eight in the West?
In previous seasons, the Lakers had 2 play-in experiences and won both of them, arguably the best play-in team in the West. Of course, this is also related to the fact that the Lakers have home-court advantage every time, and they are all seventh, with 2 chances, so they are more confident. The most important thing is that the Lakers have a big superstar like James, in his career, a game of decision or loss, basically won, James is too good at this kind of game, constantly putting pressure on the opponent on the court.
The Suns currently have a 42-30 record, two wins ahead of the Lakers, and both sides have only 10 games left. If the Suns play 82 games with the current 58.3% win rate, then their final win will be 47 or 48 wins, the Lakers and the Suns have played each other 4 times this season, with two wins and two losses, neither side is the champion of the division, but the Lakers have a better overall record in the division, so if the wins are the same, the Lakers will be ranked higher. In this way, the Lakers need to win 7-8 more games in 10 games, which is still very difficult.
But then again, the Lakers' schedule is very good, and half of the next games are underdogs, so they do have a chance to win more games. The schedule of the Suns can be said to be the most difficult in the league, the opponents are all in the top six levels in the West, and the Suns have no advantage in playing strong teams, and they may suffer a wave of consecutive defeats. If the Lakers maintain their current 55.6 percent win rate, they will end the season with 45 or 46 wins, which seems unlikely that the Suns will have to win only three or four of their 10 games to finish in the top eight.
If the Lakers make the playoffs again through the playoffs, do you think they will be able to achieve the miracle of last season and reach the Western Conference finals again or go further?