2025 NBA Playoff Picture, Bracket Clinching Scenarios for Lakers, More on April 8
The Los Angeles Lakers will have an opportunity to clinch a spot in the 2025 NBA playoffs on Tuesday night.
NBA Communications released some playoff scenarios Tuesday, and among them is the Lakers' ability to clinch a postseason position with a road win over the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder:
The Lakers can also clinch the Pacific Division title if they win, while the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors both lose.
The Cleveland Cavaliers can clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference as well with a home win over the Chicago Bulls.
At 48-30, the Lakers are currently the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. The top six seeds reach the playoffs without having to go through the postseason play-in tournament.
The Clippers, Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies are seeded Nos. 5 through 8 with identical 46-32 records, placing them two games behind the Lakers.
The Lakers are trending toward their fifth playoff appearance in the past six seasons, and their 48 wins are already their most in a single season since winning 52 in 2019-20, which was when they last won a championship.
With LeBron James and trade acquisition Luka Dončić leading the way, the Lakers look like legitimate championship contenders, and they could be the biggest threat in the Western Conference to the Thunder.
OKC has been the NBA's dominant team all season long, and it holds a 12.5-game lead over the second-place Houston Rockets in the West with a 64-14 record.
Beating the Thunder on Tuesday night to clinch a playoff spot will be a tall order for the Lakers, but they are coming off a dominant 126-99 win over Oklahoma City on Sunday night, so momentum is on their side.
As for the Cavs, they hold a four-game lead over the Boston Celtics for the top seed in the Eastern Conference at 62-16, and their matchup on Tuesday should be considerably easier than the Lakers'.
Cleveland will host a Bulls team that is 36-42 and preparing for the play-in tournament, since they are ninth in the East.
The Bulls have played much better as of late, winning three in a row and seven of their past 10, so they won't necessarily be a pushover.
Although the Sacramento Kings are idle on Tuesday, they have a chance to advance past the regular season as well.
Should the Phoenix Suns lose to the Warriors on Tuesday night, the Kings will clinch a spot in the play-in tournament.
At 39-40, the Kings are the ninth seed in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the 10th-seeded Dallas Mavericks and 3.5 games ahead of the Suns in 11th.
