When the final buzzer sounded in Crypto.com arena on Sunday, all of Lakers Nation took a collective sigh of relief.
Among the chorus of excitement was LeBron James himself, who watched the whole thing unfold from the sidelines due to his latest injury. In honor of the win, James posted a short Tweet that sounded something like a proud dad.
YESSIR #Lakeshow !!!!! W
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 5, 2023
With the team fighting to squeeze into the playoff picture out West, the margin for error couldn’t be slimmer for the Lakeshow. At 31-34, they are hovering at the play-in line with teams like the Pelicans, Jazz, Clippers, and Mavericks sitting just a few games ahead in the standings.
Since the All-Star break, this Lakers team has been different. Russ has been replaced with guys like Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and D’Angelo Russell and it’s clear that the team they have now is much better than the one they started the season with.
Unfortunately, the Lakers still have to carry those losses they piled up early on, and now it could be the reason they fall short of a deep playoff run.
Can Lakers Make A Run Without LeBron James?
Even after today’s win, the Purple and Gold are facing a daunting path ahead. Assuming they keep winning like this and secure a top-10 seed, they may still have to play some play-in games before they can move on to the first round.
If they get past the play-in, their reward will either be a first-round matchup against the first-place Nuggets or the Memphis Grizzlies.
Of course, in the best-case scenario, the Lakers could move all the way up to 6th and avoid the play-in entirely. Either way, this final stretch of the season will put every Laker to the test.
“You’re getting playoff-like experience in the regular season,” said Lakers champion Derek Fisher. “Those great teams that could cruise, it was because of the playoff experience and this group which is new, so many new faces. It is really good for them to be in a lot of these must-win situations, big games, (and) a lot of these guys speaking about it in their interviews. It’s going to bind them together in a really good way, and hopefully, it’ll pay off with some wins.”
LeBron James remains hopeful to return at some point this season, but the Lakers will have to stay in playoff contention if they want to make his comeback mean anything.
But if this team does manage to sneak into the NBA playoffs, you’d be a fool to count them out against any team in the West.
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