Lakers News: LA Now In 3-Way Tie At Bottom Of Play-In Bracket

Matt Levine | Apr 12, 2024

The Los Angeles Lakers season has been a whirlwind of emotions. They have been incredibly inconsistent throughout, in part due to different injuries suffered across the roster. These have hurt them in the standings, putting them into an unfortunate place heading into the final days of the regular season.

Where things stand right now is Los Angeles sitting in a three-way tie in the standings with two teams that hold the tiebreaker over them. That would be the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors, both of which the Lakers have dropped key games to in recent weeks.

The Lakers sit in the 10th spot in the Western Conference and will need some help to move up. Right now, they would need to win two road games to then make the official bracket to likely take on the defending champions, the Denver Nuggets. This is far from ideal but Los Angeles did it to themselves.

Kings, Warriors, and Lakers are all tied in standings with only TWO nights of games left in NBA season 🤯🍿

Who gets the 8-seed? pic.twitter.com/FZHfKN2qCx

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 12, 2024

While injuries can happen at any time, the strange coaching decisions throughout the year contributed to their place in the standings. Second-year coach Darvin Ham has seemingly regressed as a coach, creating much frustration within the locker room with his rotation decisions.

Barring another deep playoff run, Ham will likely be let go at the conclusion of the season. There has been far too much drama going on around the team, without the results to shadow it. Fans have been calling for him to be fired for some time and they may get their wish this summer.

But the Lakers still believe that they can go on a run and surprise everyone. Despite everything looking against them right now, until they are officially eliminated, they see themselves as having a chance to win.