5 Los Angeles Lakers Hot Takes with 2 Weeks Left
The Los Angeles Lakers could still finish the season in second place in their conference, but playing in the NBA's wild West means they have one of the league's most difficult remaining schedules.
Tuesday, they survived a test against the Houston Rockets, 104-98, but that was just the start.
Between now and the end of the regular season, L.A. has to play the Golden State Warriors, the Oklahoma City Thunder twice (both on the road) and the Rockets again. Even Luka Dončić's April 9 homecoming game against the Dallas Mavericks, who have Anthony Davis back in the rotation, will be no picnic.
So, what can we expect of this recently formed superteam for the next couple weeks and beyond? We have a handful of hot takes to answer that question below.
Lakers Will Win One of the Two Road Games Against OKC
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The Oklahoma City Thunder are the runaway best team in the NBA. They are crushing all comers on just about every night they play, but Luka Dončić and the Lakers will snag at least one win from them before the season ends.
The two teams meet on April 6 and April 8, both in OKC. And while most teams could probably just pencil "0-2" in for a trip like that, Luka changes expectations for L.A.
He led his Dallas Mavericks to a six-game, second-round upset over the Thunder last year. In that series, he put up 24.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 3.0 threes, while shooting 39.1 percent from deep.
In 11 regular-season matchups with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka has put up 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.2 assists.
He seems to relish that head-to-head, and his competitiveness will drive the Lakers to at least one victory in OKC.
Bronny James Will Get Rotation Minutes in at Least One More Game
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Yes, the Lakers are in a tight race for playoff seeding. And yes, they have one of the tougher remaining schedules in the league.
But Luka has also been banged up for much of this season. And LeBron James is 40 years old. So some rest could be in order, too.
Friday, L.A. plays the way-below-.500 New Orleans Pelicans. In their last game of the season, the Lakers face the Portland Trail Blazers. Those could be prime opportunities to preserve LeBron and Luka.
And L.A. just happens to have a guard developing in the G-League who's been lighting that level up.
Since the start of February, Bronny James has G-League games of 31, 28, 24 and 39 points. In the 39-pointer, he also had four assists and four steals.
Regardless of who his father is, the younger James has earned some developmental minutes in the big league, and he could get them in those matchups with New Orleans and/or Portland.
Austin Reaves Will Receive Some Most Improved Player Votes
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Cade Cunningham is the betting favorite to win Most Improved Player, with Dyson Daniels still within striking distance. The odds on everyone else are beyond long.
But given the way he's played of late, and what he'll presumably do over the next couple weeks, Austin Reaves is going to get some voting points (even if they come from second- and third-place votes).
After averaging 25.9 points, 5.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 threes over his last 11 games, Reaves has pulled his season-long scoring average to 19.9. His assists, rebounds, steals and box plus/minus are all up, too.
And while he's probably the least famous of L.A.'s trio of high-end playmakers, there's simply no way the Lakers would be in the position they are without him.
For the entire season, L.A. is plus-2.4 points per 100 possessions with Reaves on the floor and minus-1.3 when he's off.
The Lakers Will Meet and Beat the Warriors in the First Round...
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As is the case seemingly every March and April in the West, there is still a lot up in the air when it comes to playoff seeding.
You could drop the names of the next six or seven teams in the standings after OKC into a hat, pull them back out and have about as good a chance at predicting first-round matchups as you would any other way.
But we're going to predict a first-round matchup anyway.
Basketball Reference's Playoff Probabilities Report ("based on 10,000 simulations of the remainder of season...") gives L.A. a 33.3 percent chance of finishing fourth (the likeliest outcome for the Lakers in that model). It only gives the Golden State Warriors a 15.1 percent chance to get to fifth, but it's not factoring the recent firing of Taylor Jenkins into that.
Even if Jenkins' replacement, Tuomas Iisalo, winds up being a better fit for Memphis, there could be a bit of an adjustment period that Golden State could take advantage (especially since these teams play each other on Tuesday).
On top of that, the basketball gods might just want one more playoff matchup between LeBron and Stephen Curry. So, let's collectively will it into existence.
If we can, this would have the chance to be one of the first round's better series.
Golden State has a top-10 defense recently bolstered by the addition of Jimmy Butler. L.A. might have the most dangerous one-two-three offensive punch in the league with Luka, LeBron and Reaves.
Curry presents obvious matchup problem for the Lakers. The aforementioned trio can more than stretch the Warriors' defense.
It'd likely be a tight series, but L.A. having homecourt advantage and playoff Luka on the cusp of his prime would be enough to put it over.
...But Lose to the Thunder in the Second Round
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If the Lakers wind up in and escape the 4-5 matchup, though, they're almost guaranteed to face OKC.
And while L.A. is good enough to steal one of the upcoming road games against the Thunder, predicting a second-round exit for perhaps the best regular-season team in NBA history is too hot a take, even for this space.
Adding Luka instantly made the Lakers a more realistic title threat for this season, but they still need a starting-caliber center. A full offseason, training camp and regular season for Dončić and coach J.J. Redick to jell would help, too.
Like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James and Anthony Davis before him, Dončić has a great chance to win a title post-Lakers acquisition, but it's probably a year or two away.
