Western Conference Standings Watch: Lakers a game behind the second seed in the West
The Lakers have begun their homestand with a win and look to get back to the top number two spot in the conference.
With the Western Conference being a tight-knit race, this will be a series looking at the standings and games to watch as the Lakers look to secure home court and move up the standings.
Behind a lengthy winning strength that stretched through February and into March, the Lakers surged up the Western Conference standings, peaking as high as the No. 2 seed. However, in a playoff race as tight-knit as it is in the west, timely injuries and a bad week saw the purple and gold tumble back down the standings.
With just under a month left in the season, the Lakers could move seemingly anywhere up and down the standings. While one game separates them from the No. 2 seed, another bad week could see them fall right back into the play-in race, which they currently sit 2.5 games clear of.
Heading into the week, here’s a look at the playoff standings in the middle of the conference:
2. Rockets — 43-25
3. Nuggets — 43-25
4. Grizzlies — 43-25
5. Lakers — 41-25
Lurking below them are the Warriors and Wolves, both making runs of late.
The tiebreaker situation is also still very much up in the air for the purple and gold. The Lakers still have two games left against the Rockets, are up 2-1 in the season series against the Grizzlies with one game left and trail the Nuggets 1-2 on the year with one game remaining.
Before we finalize those head-to-head matchups, plenty of games can impact the Lakers’ standings on the schedule to start the week.
Los Angeles started it’s current homestand by getting some players back and earning a win over the struggling Suns.
Now, they need to build on that momentum by beating the Spurs at home and rooting for a couple of other NBA games to go their way so they can rise in the standings.
Here are the upcoming matchups at the start of the week that Lakers fans should keep an eye on.
Monday
Sixers at Rockets — Needing the Sixers to win a game is a tough place to be in. However, if Philadelphia can somehow pull off the victory over Houston on Monday and the Lakers defeat the Spurs, they’ll move ahead of them in the Western Conference rankings.
For the Sixers to pull off the upset, Quentin Grimes will have to replicate the 28-point performance he had against the Mavericks in their most recent game.
Nuggets at Warriors — This game features two teams Lakers fans know all too well. Since there is no way for both teams to lose, the best outcome would be a Golden State win over Denver. The Warriors are also jockeying for playoff positioning but are just a bit outside of this tight race out West, at least for now.
Grizzlies at Kings — Memphis will be short-handed in this contest with Ja Morant ruled out with left hamstring soreness. Sacramento will be slightly favored, but they have struggled all season long and are in the middle of a four-game losing streak.
Given that they are sitting at ninth in the West and looking to climb the play-in standings, they have every incentive to earn a win, which not only helps their situation but could push Los Angeles ahead of Memphis by the end of Monday night’s action.
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