In the aftermath of an ugly loss to the Pacers on Friday, Lakers star LeBron James opened up on the road ahead and what state of mind his guys should approach their upcoming road trip against three of the worst teams in the West.
“That can’t be the thinking that ‘we playing sub .500 teams.’ That will get you burned every time so we gotta play our game and we gotta understand that Brooklyn beat us last time when we played them in LA l and we look forward to that challenge. They got some guys that can beat you: Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, we know those guys are pros and we gotta be ready for them.”
LeBron James has never been one to underestimate his opponent and he wants to keep that streak going as the playoffs approach on the horizon. For a Lakers squad that currently ranks 9th in the West, they cannot afford to overlook any team right now, no matter their record.
After tonight’s game, the Lakers will spend the next three contests on the East coast, against some of the worst in the league including the Nets, Raptors, and Washington Wizards. And while the Purple and Gold will come in with every expectation to win, LeBron doesn’t want them to believe it will come easy. The Lakers are far from perfect and James already said how the Nets have beaten them once before already.
With so much at stake over these next week weeks, every game is a must-win now and even a single loss could jeopardize everything they’ve been working toward this season.
That’s why, at 39 years old, LeBron James is doing everything he can to help even the odds and give the Lakers a fighting chance in the West this year.
Will The Lakers Make Another Deep Playoff Run?
Against all odds, we saw the Lakers win two playoff rounds when all hope seemed lost. Despite being the 7th seed, and having to win a play-in game to advance, the Lakers took care of business against the Grizzlies and Warriors to make the West Finals. They would go on to get swept by the Nuggets in the following series but many consider it a miracle they even got that far given how bad things had gotten at one point.
This season, the Lakers’ ambitions have risen even higher. Rather than simply make the Conference Finals, they want to go all the way and bring the franchise its 18th championship.
With a 39-year-old LeBron James, anything is possible for the Lakers but the odds are stacked against them for a lengthy postseason run. Potential injuries aside, the team just doesn’t have enough depth to keep up with the likes of Denver, Oklahoma City, and Minnesota in the West, and that’s not counting the Celtics, who have opened an 11-game gap for the top seed in the East. Furthermore, due to their positioning, the Lakers would face the hardest path possible en route to the Finals and the likelihood is that they wouldn’t get past the first round.
In short, the Lakers would need a miracle to advance deep into the postseason and every game they lose is a step closer toward the end of their run. But stranger things have happened before and there is some faith yet that this team can pull off the impossible and make another surprise appearance in the final four.
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