Lakers can’t help but keep an eye on the Western Conference standings

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LOS ANGELES — With two weeks remaining in the NBA regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff seed has been a regular topic in the locker room.

Coach JJ Redick has shared his vision with his group — earn a playoff spot, avoid the Play-In Tournament, prioritize health and figure it out from there. Players have talked about their big-picture goals among themselves. The coaching staff has begun planning for outcomes and matchups separately in their meetings.

“Everybody is paying attention, I can’t lie,” Dorian Finney-Smith said, cutting straight to the truth. “Let’s be honest. Come on, man. Everybody be looking at the standings. We don’t want to be in the Play-In, so every game matters.”

Barring a disaster, the Lakers will advance to the postseason. It’s just a matter of what seed they earn and whom they play in the first round (and, to an extent, their playoff path).

And with the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets in town Monday for a game that could determine how realistic Los Angeles’ ongoing pursuit of that second seed is, the Lakers’ 104-98 win was a sign that pursuit is still alive. And the Lakers are embracing the challenge of rebounding from their recent dip — they had lost eight of 13 games before Monday’s win — and trying to recapture their midseason magic.

“I still think one of the hardest things in life is navigating control versus non-control,” Redick said before the game. “And, in some ways, we can control what seed we get. We can control if we make the playoffs. We have to go out and play well. Even at this stage of the season where we’ve had a couple bad stretches, we still can control where we’re seeded and if we make the playoffs.”

By beating the Rockets (49-27), the Lakers (46-29) gained a game on them in the Western Conference standings and a half game on the No. 3 Denver Nuggets (47-28). Houston is 2 1/2 games ahead of the Lakers but only up two games in the loss column. Los Angeles hosts Houston one more time April 11, with a chance to win the season series and a potential opportunity to jump the Rockets, depending on how close the two teams are in the standings.

“Those are potential playoff matchups, and we did what we need to do,” Luka Dončić said of the win over the Rockets.

The larger theme for the Lakers has been regaining their form — before injuries to Rui Hachimura and LeBron James, the team won 20 of 24 games and had the No. 1 defense in the league — while also building playoff habits.

James, who has often compared the regular season to shifting gears in a cycling race, agrees with Redick that the Lakers are at the point of their season when it is time to start to increase the speed of their ramp-up.

“Urgency,” James said of Los Angeles’ mentality. “We know that we got a lot of playoff experience in this locker room, but we all know that one play here, one play there, can be the difference between winning a playoff series or not. Urgency, physicality and then holding each other accountable.”

Players often downplay how much they check the standings, but James admitted this season — with seven of the top eight West teams separated by fewer than six games — has been an exception.

“This year, in particular, it’s so close,” James said. “People are jumping each other, falling behind, whatever the case may be. It’s not like I (do) it every day, but it’s talked about pretty much all the time. You kind of see where you’re at. For us, obviously, our mission is to lock in a playoff spot. We don’t want to have to play in the Play-In, so we understand what’s at stake.”

With back-to-back wins against Memphis and Houston, teams they could face in the first round (or later in the playoffs), Redick said the Lakers can point back to their success in two polar opposite game styles — one higher-scoring and faster-paced and another lower-scoring and slower.

Against the Rockets, the Lakers took care of the ball (only 11 turnovers) and limited their transition opportunities (13 fast-break points), which stymied Houston’s offense. The Lakers also targeted Alperen Şengün, Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet, with the former two sitting on the bench during parts of crunchtime.

Houston limited Dončić, James and Austin Reaves to 39 shots — 16 fewer than they attempted Saturday against Memphis — but that led to big nights for Finney-Smith (20 points, six 3-pointers, two steals and three blocks) and Gabe Vincent (20 points and six 3-pointers). The Rockets’ defensive strategy is the likely blueprint against the Lakers in the playoffs, with teams double-teaming and heavily shifting over to Los Angeles’ primary scorers and playmakers and forcing the supporting cast to try to beat them.

“In a playoff series, each game is its own thing because teams adjust, and they decide what they’re willing to live with and what they’re trying to take away,” Redick said. “I think, particularly on the defensive end, the emphasis was on every possession in really valuing that. I think, for the most part, we did that. And that, to me, is what you have to do in a playoff series. Offensively, the game plan that a team is going to throw at you is different night to night.”

The Lakers are confident that, no matter their seed, as long as they are healthy, they have a shot against any team in the West in a seven-game series. They have the second-best record against the conference among West teams, behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have beaten each of the seven other projected playoff teams at least once except for the Thunder, whom they have only played once this season in late November.

After concluding a month in which they played 17 games, the Lakers will reconvene for practice Wednesday — a rarity given the schedule — and prepare for a must-win matchup against the surging Golden State Warriors, who are 2 1/2 games behind the Lakers. A win against the Warriors (43-31) would create additional distance and push the Lakers closer to the No. 2 or No. 3 seed.

“I think we all recognize the magnitude of each game and the urgency with which we have to play each game,” Redick said. “I think once you get to the playoffs, anybody who’s been there — and we have a bunch of guys that have won championships and a bunch of guys have made deep playoff runs — the urgency you have to play with on each possession, that’s what’s exhausting about the playoffs.

“It’s a mental, physical and emotional toll because you have to be locked in on every single possession. … We’ve gotta build our playoff mentality.”

(Photo of Luka Dončić: Kiyoshi Mio / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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