How Lakers Need Friday Night's Slate of Games to Go For Postseason Seeding

Matt Levine | Apr 12, 2024

The Los Angeles Lakers currently sit in the 10th seed within the Western Conference standings entering into a critical night in the NBA on Friday. After dropping their last two games, Los Angeles sits on the verge of having to potentially play and win two road games to then reach the official postseason bracket.

For arguements sake, let's say the Lakers do make it out of the Play-In Tournament, they would then be gifted with a matchup against the No. 1 seed, which is currently the Denver Nuggets. This is a less than ideal situation for the Lakers, so the next day or two will determine how likely they are to make another deep playoff run.

Each team fighting for seeding in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament is playing on Friday and there are specific scenarios that need to happen for Los Angeles to possibly move up. Here is the rooting guide for the Lakers heading into Friday night.

First off, the Lakers need to beat the Memphis Grizzlies. Losing to Memphis would be detrimental to their chances and almost lock them into being the 10th seed. Memphis has been dealing with multiple injuries this season, so the hope is that the Lakers can do enough to grab a win here tonight.

Where things stand, Los Angeles is tied with the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors record wise. But both teams hold the tiebreaker over the Lakers due to head-to-head matchups. Sacramento hosts the Phoenix Suns on Friday evening, with both teams fighting for something. The Lakers need Phoenix to beat Sacramento in this game.

As for the Warriors, they are hosting the New Orleans Pelicans at Chase Center. Golden State is coming off a win over the Portland Trail Blazers last night, but they rested some of their key starters to prepare for this game against the Pelicans. While New Orleans is just ahead of the Lakers in the standings too, Los Angeles needs the Pelicans to take down Golden State.

A Lakers win over Memphis, combined with a Kings and Warriors loss tonight would vault the Lakers up to the 8th seed. They then would be able to clinch the 8th seed with a win over New Orleans on Sunday. Los Angeles needs help from other teams to move up in the standings, resulting from their own inconsistency throughout the season. There is still time to help themselves, but the clock is ticking on their chances.