The Los Angeles Lakers are currently in the middle of a hot streak and are showing no signs of cooling off. On Sunday night, the Lakers moved to 38-21 on the season after a 108-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, moving to the second spot in the Western Conference standings for the time being. Their trade for Luka Doncic continues to pay off, as Doncic once again put the Clippers, a team he's always showed up against, in the blender, ending up with 29 points, six rebounds, and nine assists on the night.
This hot stretch is fueling title ambitions for the Lakers, and rightfully so. Doncic is a singular incredible force capable of leading his teams deep into the playoffs so long as he has the right pieces around him, and no piece could be more right for him than LeBron James, who is more than content to defer to the 26-year-old star. Nevertheless, head coach JJ Redick wants to take it one step at a time, as he wants his team to secure a spot within the West's top-six before setting their sights on bigger and better things.
“I want to make the playoffs. I don't want to be in the Play-In. Until that is secured, the seeding thought won't cross my mind,” Redick said, per Ryan Ward of Lakers Nation.
Over the past two seasons, the Lakers only made it to the playoffs via the play-in tournament. While the Purple and Gold still managed to make it all the way to the Conference Finals in 2023 despite being the seven-seed, this is a scenario that Redick would want to avoid entirely.
The Lakers' performance over the next few weeks will be crucial; they will be facing a murderer's row of opponents in the final month or so of the regular season, a defining stretch that could help make or break their ambitions of a deep postseason run.
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It's time for the Lakers to show that they can hang with the league's best teams
The Lakers have the third-toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, according to Tankathon. In their final 23 games, they will be facing teams with a combined winning percentage of .540, a brutal stretch that could solidify their place atop the conference or send them tumbling down to the play-in picture.
They will be facing the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics within the next week, while matchups against the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets await them in the weekend after next. They still have two matchups against the Oklahoma City Thunder on the docket, while Luka Doncic will still have his much-anticipated visit to Dallas when they take on the Mavericks on April 9.
