With LeBron James and Anthony Davis, both still working their way back from injury, having to fight through a play-in tournament isn’t necessarily a great situation.
While nobody is expecting L.A. to miss out on the playoffs, they’ll have to play at least one more game to get there, essentially shortening the amount of time and rest the players have before postseason play begins.
Needless to say, it’s bad news for the Lakers, and many of their fans expressed major frustration on Twitter, while others made a meme of it.
LeBron when Lakers are blowing them out in the 4th pic.twitter.com/UUz2jSBY9s
— not 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕠 🕷 (@MAN0MAGlC) May 17, 2021
If the lakers lose NBA twitter is gonna go crazy 😭😭
— 🔥 (@AbbasT22) May 17, 2021
Bron and Steph meeting in the play-in game instead of the Finals 😂pic.twitter.com/s5O0Ch2Wys
— Blue Wire (@bluewirepods) May 17, 2021
https://twitter.com/ericsvogel/status/1394130807984476162
People are gonna be so pissed when Steph goes for 35 but the #Lakers win by 10.
— WizKid (@dcastillo414) May 17, 2021
Play on Play-In. Steph vs LeBron. pic.twitter.com/iyLxvvD3PU
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 17, 2021
The lowest seeded team in NBA history to go on to win the championship was the sixth-seed Houston Rockets in 1995. The Lakers will have to pull off an unprecedented feat to defend their title. https://t.co/h1hlLEBjdd
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 17, 2021
https://twitter.com/Fabian31093979/status/1394132135447994368
The first challenge for L.A. will be their first play-in match against the Warriors, who have been red hot over the past two weeks. If the Lakers win that game, they lock in their place at 7 and will look ahead to their first real matchup against the 2nd seeded Suns.
If they lose their first play-in game, the defending Champs will have to play another play-in game, either against the Grizzlies or Spurs.
Needless to say, the Lakers aren’t in an ideal position right now and, even if they make the 7th seed, they have a long and uphill battle to face — without homecourt advantage.
This may be their biggest challenge yet. And, even for LeBron James, this is new territory.
