How can lakers get the 7th seed

Kansas City. Las Vegas. Los Angeles. New Orleans. New York. San Antonio. San Diego. Tampa Bay. Washington DC. By The Athletic Staff. The Los Angeles Lakers dropped into the No. With the win, Portland secured the regular-season tiebreaker between the Lakers via a head-to-head advantage in the season series. But at the same time, we want to finish in the top six.

Damian Lillard scored 38 points to lead the Blazers. LeBron James missed his third consecutive game with right ankle soreness. Starting point guard Dennis Schroder also missed 11 games due to injury and health and safety protocol reasons. The Lakers finished the regular season with a record that led to the play-in situation against the Warriors. This is going to be a challenge. We accept the challenge, and we embrace it. The scout said the Lakers will miss the leadership, experience and mental toughness of veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, who is now with the LA Clippers, and the effectiveness and fit at the center position of Dwight Howard, who is now with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Perhaps having Davis play more center is the answer, as he made 9 of 13 shots against the Warriors at that position after missing all seven shots while playing alongside Andre Drummond. Like a champion boxer, the Lakers had outstanding defense that saved them against the Warriors. The Lakers, who were the No. The Warriors also were doomed by 20 turnovers, including six apiece by both Steph Curry and Draymond Green. The most likely fate for them is playing a game or two in the new play-in round that awaits the teams finishing between seventh and 10th in each conference.

Dallas entered Saturday at No. The Lakers would lose tiebreakers against either the Blazers or Mavericks, lowering their odds of escaping the No. That said, James — who has been dealing with a high ankle sprain — may return in the next few days , presumably to get into playoff shape and rebuild some chemistry. That means the champs have at least some reason for hope.

Given the ailments—high-ankle sprain for James; calf and Achilles issues for Davis—the Lakers are one of the trickier teams to project when it comes to postseason seeding. They have the No.

This will make their stretch run a fascinating watch, and the following three games in particular will go a long way toward determining their playoff spot. Barring something wholly unexpected, the seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks are the lowest-ranked team that has any chance of running down the Lakers.

That increases the importance of this contest, which will be the second of two consecutive games in Dallas. The Lakers could have one major reinforcement by then, as the latest update from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski has this game in Davis' potential return window. Given all of the problems the Luka Doncic-led Mavericks present at the defensive end, the Lakers will want their All-Star stopper back for this contest.