The Lakers are not having a good season, as they have not yet climbed up to the top six. Coming to the fag end of the season, the LA side is still somehow hanging in with chances to make the postseason. The Lakers had a tough season filled with injuries and confusion with the balance of the roster. After the February trade, the trouble with the balance was more or less over, but there was no end to the injury concerns. If it was not for these injuries, the Lakers should have been comfortably among the top six.
A lot of things not going in their favour have resulted in a lack of winning streak. The Lakers have been looking for a streak for a long time but could not hold onto one yet. There were a few unlucky games like that one against the Mavericks, where they lost after a last-second three-pointer. But still, the Lakers have managed well without LeBron James, winning seven out of twelve games.
Booker Believes NBA Helping Lakers To Make The Playoffs
Albeit, there have been a few controversies about the last match against the Phoneix Suns. The Lakers won pretty comfortably (122-111). Devin Booker of the Phoneix Suns claims that there is a big conspiracy going on around the tournament to get the LA franchise to the playoffs. He makes such an allegation after the Lakers got 46 free throw chances in contrast to 20 for the Suns.
Booker says things were made easier for the Lakers in order to beat them. The Suns are the 4th seed of the Western Conference. Hence, it was a tough game for the host. But Booker cannot process the fact that how the Lakers came on top of the Suns. As a result, Booker came to the conclusion that the game was rigged. But he also knows that he cannot lose his focus on the game by thinking about it too much. The Suns as a whole team argue that the hosts got an unfair advantage of the free throws. It is a lot since the number is 46, but there is no hardcore evidence that shows NBA supporting the Lakers illegally.
The Hollywood Franchise Is Still Hanging In
Anyways the Lakers are still far away from confirming their place in the playoffs or even the play-in, for that matter. Albeit, the LA franchise is one of the most popular in the NBA and around the world. If they reach the playoffs, that will just gain more popularity for the tournament. But for the last two years, that has not been the case.
The Los Angeles side missed the postseason last year. The team missed LeBron James for several games. Anthony Davis was carrying the team alone but could not get them over the line. Again this time, the Los Angeles side does not have the King, but AD is leading and showing them the way. Davis and Russell helped the team to jump to the 9th seed from the 11th at one point. However, now the Lakers are the 10th seed with a 36-37 win-loss ratio. How far they can actually reach, only time can say.