‘We got to win:’ The revamped Lakers are pushing to clinch a playoff
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The Lakers’ goal is to finish in the top six in the Western Conference and earn an automatic spot in the playoffs.
Now, if the Lakers finish in the top 10 and are forced to compete in the NBA’s play-in tournament, they would accept that too.
But after they had their first practice Wednesday following the All-Star break, Lakers coach Darvin Ham said the team has higher aspirations.
“Yeah, the goal is for us to come out and try to be the best version of ourselves each game, but definitely, if we can go and secure a spot, that is our goal right there,” Ham said. “If we fall into a play-in situation, so be it. But our No. 1 goal is to go secure a spot [and] not just throw games off here or there [and] just wish for a play-in. We want to go secure a spot.”
The Lakers are 13th in the West, 3½ games behind the Dallas Mavericks, who reside in the sixth position. The Lakers are two games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, who hold the 10th spot and would be the last team in if the playoffs began today.
Yes, the Lakers have work to do.
“I mean, we got to win,” Anthony Davis said. “Obviously, we got to hope that teams lose too as well. But we got to control what we can control and that’s winning basketball games by going out and competing every night.”
The Lakers will start this journey Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena against the Golden State Warriors, who are in the ninth spot in the West.
Then the Lakers hit the road for games at Dallas, Memphis and Oklahoma City, all teams ahead of them in the standings.
They return home to face Minnesota, the Warriors again and the Grizzlies again — all teams ahead of them in the standings.
With 23 games remaining in the regular season, the Lakers will have an…
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