Lakers Rooting Guide for Final Month of Regular Season

Los Angeles Lakers fans probably planned on spending the stretch run of the 2021-22 NBA season doing some scoreboard watching—just not like this.

Rather than jostling for the Western Conference's No. 1 seed, as oddsmakers expected, the Lakers are instead struggling to lock down an invitation to the Play-In Tournament.

They have one for now, but it's threatening to slip out of their grasp. Monday's loss to the San Antonio Spurs was L.A.'s eighth in the last 10 games and 17th in its last 24.

Even worse, LeBron James missed the contest with what coach Frank Vogel described as "significant" knee soreness, which would be worrisome for anyone but sounds particularly ominous for a 37-year-old who has logged the second-most minutes in league history.

The Lakers are in a brutal spot, and they might need help to salvage anything from this season. To get that help, L.A. has two obvious teams to cheer against and one to root for during what's left of the stretch run.

Root Against: New Orleans Pelicans

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Entering Tuesday night, no team stood nearer to the Lakers in the standings than the New Orleans Pelicans. The two teams are—for now, at least—jostling for the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, which may not sound like much, but it does grant home-court advantage in the Nine-Ten game of the tournament.

Based on the results so far, home court might mean more to the Lakers. They have been formidable on their home floor (19-16) and have struggled to put up much of a fight away from it (9-20).

For L.A. to lock down this spot, it needs to fend off a New Orleans club making a transparent push to win-now despite sitting well below .500. The Pelicans made a major move for CJ McCollum at the trade deadline and, theoretically at least, still have a chance of getting Zion Williamson back. The top pick of the 2019 draft has yet to suit up this season after offseason foot surgery, but he recently returned to New Orleans and plans to rejoin the team next week, per ESPN's Andrew Lopez.

While the Pelicans are only 5-5 since McCollum's debut, they have the league's second-best net rating during this stretch, per NBA.com. They also have the league's fourth-easiest remaining schedule, while the Lakers' is harder than anyone's, per Tankathon.

Root For: Golden State Warriors

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Apologies for the collective groan you're hearing from Lakers Nation on this recommendation.

Cheering for the Warriors might feel icky, but it's worth it. They have two tussles left with the San Antonio Spurs and close out the campaign with a road game in New Orleans. They can help the Lakers' Play-In hopes as much as anyone.

The Warriors have been stuck in their own tailspin—aided by the Lakers' 124-116 win over them on Saturday—but it's possible much of their issues stem from the absence of Draymond Green. He doubles as their top defender and best ball-mover, and they haven't been the same since a back injury knocked him out in early January. But he is eyeing a March 14 return, which would get him back in time for all three contests.

There is one exception to this recommendation, though. The Warriors and Lakers lock horns once more this season (in San Francisco on April 7), but maybe Golden State can do L.A. a solid and drop that game, too. The Warriors are up 2-1 in the season series with their Pacific Division rivals, but all three contests were decided by eight points or less.

Root Against: San Antonio Spurs

Eric Gay/Associated Press

Technically, the Portland Trail Blazers are closer to the Lakers than the Spurs. But it's only by a half-game (as of Tuesday), and San Antonio is far more likely to sprint through the stretch run than Portland.

The Blazers, remember, lost Damian Lillard (abdominal) and Nassir Little (shoulder) to surgery, shut down Jusuf Nurkic for at least a month (foot) and traded away CJ McCollum, Norman Powell and Robert Covington. Plus, they're out their first-round pick unless it lands inside the lottery.

The Spurs made their own forward-thinking moves at the deadline (dealing Derrick White and Thaddeus Young for draft picks), but they stopped short of a fire sale. San Antonio also might want to punctuate Gregg Popovich's latest entry in the record books with some kind of postseason play.

The Spurs, in other words, have more incentive to chase wins and more talent with which to secure them. The Lakers also don't face them again this season, so any of their losses from here out will come by way of external assistance.