Is there time for Lakers to mesh?
Mathematically, the defending champions are in postseason but health, chemistry will be vital components.
The Lakers, as well as the Brooklyn Nets, have a unique opportunity to shape the perceived value of the NBA’s regular season with how they perform in the upcoming weeks.
While the playoffs are of supreme importance compared to the regular season — the reward for winning earlier in the season are advantages to help you win later. The Lakers’ bizarre season, along with the Nets, threaten to disrupt the idea that the regular season matters.
The Lakers have had their preferred starting lineup together for just one game — on April 30 against Sacramento. Talk of oncourt chemistry and building continuity has given way to the team just trying to get as many players healthy by next week as possible, when it’s likely they’ll play the Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament with the No. 7 seed on the line.
“It’s been on-the-job training for almost everybody in this organization this season,” reserve guard Wesley Matthews said this week.
Mistakes that coaches and players try to iron out during the season and practices are probably going to show up at some unfortunate times, whether during the play-in tournament or during the playoffs.
But talent is talent, and with maybe the exception of the Clippers, the Lakers are going to be more talented than any team they’ll play in the West. If that talent pre
vails and the Lakers appear to be fresher than the competition, there’s going to be a lot of talk about whether their lost regular season was actually beneficial.
The Nets have had the benefit of winning despite their injuries, their top-line talent unmatched in the NBA. But still, Brooklyn’s trio of stars — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden — have started only eight games together this season.
If the two teams meet in the NBA Finals, a popular bet earlier in the season, it’ll be because those teams also used the postseason to aide in their quest for continuity. The road for the Lakers is going to be tougher — there won’t be a lot of time for experimentation against the likes of the Utah Jazz or Phoenix Suns, who are guarenteed to be seeded either first or second. The Clippers and Denver Nuggets will be seeded third or fourth.
The Lakers’ path to the playoffs right now is through the play-in tournament, in which the seventh- and eighth-place teams at the end of the regular season play for the seventh seed. The loser of that game plays the winner of a game between the ninth- and 10th-place teams for the eighth seed.
The Lakers can land as high as fifth place in the standings, but it would take the Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks losing their last two games. If the Lakers lose either of their final two games they finish seventh. The Lakers could finish sixth if Portland or Dallas loses twice while they win out.
Regardless of the scenarios, it’ll be hard to pick against the Lakers because of LeBron James and Anthony Davis despite the other unknowns — like how they truly fit with center Andre Drummond and how point guard Dennis Schroder is going to look once he returns from the NBA’s COVID-19 protocol.
Normally, the regular season provides teams with some answers heading into the playoffs, but if you’re a believer in the Lakers, it’s because of what you think this team can be — not what this team has shown.