How the Lakers are setting themselves up for a | College News

Go forward, close your eyes and dream.

You noticed what the Dodgers’ World Series parade was like. The cheers. The flags. The confetti.

Something like this might occur again quickly, and it might occur earlier than November.

The street to the NBA Finals is opening up for the Lakers, who are all of a sudden in second place in the Western Conference.

“That’s great,” Luka Doncic stated. “Great position to be in, honestly.”

The final time the Lakers entered the playoffs with as high a seed was in 2020 once they gained their bubble championship. The final time they loved home-court benefit in a postseason collection was when Kobe Bryant was nonetheless taking part in for them.

“We just gotta keep stacking days,” ahead Dorian Finney-Smith stated.

Only 23 video games stay in the common season.

Holding on to their place gained’t essentially spare the Lakers a tough matchup in the first spherical of the playoffs.

They might face the Minnesota Timberwolves, who reached the convention finals final 12 months. Or the Dallas Mavericks, who would presumably have Anthony Davis of their lineup by then. Or the Clippers, who could possibly be harmful if Kawhi Leonard performs like the Kawhi Leonard of outdated. Or the Golden State Warriors, who’ve surged in the wake of their commerce for Jimmy Butler.

But the Lakers would have home-court benefit, which is no small element contemplating they’ve the third-best home document in the league behind solely the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Lakers’ benefit inside of Crypto.com Arena feels as if it’s grown since the acquisition of Doncic. The home crowd was mesmerized as Doncic made a collection of step-back three-pointers and hit LeBron James with one other cross-court go in a 108-102 win over the Clippers on Sunday evening. The spectators celebrated when Doncic celebrated they usually have been galvanized when he talked trash.

“The atmosphere,” Doncic stated, “is unbelievable.”

But this isn’t nearly Doncic. Since they’d two video games postponed by the damaging wildfires in the space final month, the Lakers have the best document in the league at 18-5. They even have the top-rated protection.

The Lakers have managed to be constant with out fielding a constant lineup. The 23-game stretch contains video games performed underneath numerous circumstances: With and with out Doncic, with and with out James, with and with out the departed Davis.

They beat the Clippers on Friday and Sunday. They didn’t have Rui Hachimura in the first sport, they usually didn’t have each Hachimura and Austin Reaves in the second.

They have elevated their sport towards the higher groups they’ve performed, as their current victims embrace the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets. Their solely losses final month have been to the lottery-bound Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets.

“These opponents we’re playing, they’re really good teams,” coach JJ Redick stated. “These are playoff-like games, just in terms of the physicality, the effort from both teams.”

There will probably be more video games like this. After internet hosting the Knicks on Thursday, the Lakers will embark on a four-city journey that features stops in Boston, Milwaukee and Denver.

Redick stated he isn’t involved about the place his staff is seeded — but.

“I want to make the playoffs,” he stated. “I don’t want to be in the play-in [tournament]. Until that is secured, the seeding thought won’t cross my mind.”

With their win over the Clippers on Sunday, the Lakers moved 6 ½ video games clear of the play-in event.

Redick’s want to keep away from the event is completely comprehensible. The Lakers reached the playoffs thrice in the earlier 4 seasons, every time by surviving the play-in event. Twice, they have been eradicated in the first spherical of the playoffs, together with by the Nuggets final 12 months.

The Lakers ought to be capable of go into the playoffs by way of the entrance door this 12 months, and as soon as they’re there, they need to have a likelihood to make a critical run.

They’re not simply taking part in like a staff that might win a championship. They’re positioned like a staff that might win a championship.