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The Lakers have won 9 of their last 10 games and finally moved up to eighth in the West.
The Lakers are on a four-game winning streak today after beating the Cavaliers 116-97 at home, with James scoring 74 points and Prince coming off the bench to score 18 points efficiently, and Vincent and Dinwiddie's guard line defense has taken the Lakers' defense up a notch.
After this game, the Lakers overtook the Kings with a 45-33 record and rose to eighth in the West, which is also the Lakers' return to eighth in the West since December 29, 2023. The Lakers have performed well recently, with 9 wins and 1 loss in the last 10 games, and only lost to the Pacers in a six-game road trip, and the Lakers' ranking has finally improved by one place, which shows the degree of involution of the Western team.
The Pelicans suffered a four-game losing streak and the team slipped all the way down the standings.
The Lakers are currently only 0.5 wins behind the seventh-place Pelicans, the Pelicans suffered four consecutive defeats, and lost to the Spurs in the last game, the absence of the team's core Ingram made the Pelicans dive all the way, from 5th in the West all the way down to 7th in the West, the Pelicans' opponents in the next 5 games are: Suns, Trail Blazers, Kings, Warriors, Lakers, the Pelicans ranking is likely to continue to fall, and the Lakers are expected to continue to improve the rankings.
The Kings injured two big players, and the strength of the team was greatly reduced.
Monk, the sixth man of the Kings, will be out for 4-6 weeks due to injury, and the team's main quarterback Huerter will be reimbursed for the season due to injury, the Kings have won 2-4 in the last 6 games, and the opponents in the remaining 5 games of the Kings are: Nets, Thunder, Pelicans, Suns, and Trail Blazers. The Kings, who injured two generals, obviously lacked firepower, and it was difficult for them to overtake the Lakers and rise to eighth place in the West again.
The Suns have the toughest remaining schedule, but the Suns are strong when they are strong.
The sixth-ranked Suns are 1.5 wins ahead of the Lakers, and the Suns have a difficult remaining schedule, and will face the Pelicans, the Clippers, the Kings, and the Timberwolves, but the Suns are strong when they are strong, and the Big Three have performed steadily, defeating the Pelicans, Cavaliers, and Timberwolves in a row to win three in a row, and the Suns are currently one win ahead of the seventh-place Pelicans, and they are likely to keep the sixth place in the West to enter the playoffs.
It is difficult for the Lakers to hit sixth in the West, and it is a more realistic goal to sit eight and fight for seven.
It will be difficult for the Lakers to move up to sixth in the West, not only will they need to win their remaining four games, but they will also need the Suns to lose two games and the Kings to lose one. The Lakers' opponents in the last four games are: Timberwolves, Warriors, Grizzlies, and Pelicans. If they can win three of the next four games, the Lakers will most likely move up to seventh in the West and enter the play-in tournament.
Guess: Lakers and Warriors go into the playoffs together?
The teams currently ranked 7-10 in the West are the Pelicans, Lakers, Kings, and Warriors. The Warriors are 4 wins ahead of the 11th-place Rockets, 2 wins behind the ninth-place Kings, and there is little left in the regular season, and it is difficult for the Warriors to overtake the Kings to rise to ninth, and they will most likely enter the playoffs with the tenth place in the West. And given the recent performances of the Pelicans and Kings, it will be difficult for them to move up the rankings again, predicting that the four teams in the Western Conference play-offs (7-10) will be seventh for the Lakers, eighth for the Pelicans, ninth for the Kings and tenth for the Warriors. Predict that the Lakers and Warriors will join forces to advance to the playoffs.
The Lakers will win the playoffs against the Pelicans and lock up the seventh place in the West and enter the playoffs.
The Warriors first killed the Kings and then the Pelicans, and got on the final train of the playoffs as the eighth in the West.