Lakers: Analyst Examines the LeBron James Effect on LA's Remaining Schedule
As if LeBron James spraining his ankle and Anthony Davis still recovering from his foot injury weren’t enough of a challenge for the Lakers, they also have one of the toughest remaining schedules in the NBA. The gauntlet the Lakers must somehow conquer to make the play-in tournament is daunting to say the least.
Historically, LA typically does play the bulk of their nationally televised, high profile matchups in the second half to the season.
One NBA expert talked about how that’s only been intensified since LeBron James signed with the Lakers. NBA analyst Kirk Goldsberry of ESPN discussed the phenomenon on an episode of ESPN’s Hoop Collective.
“The NBA loves to backload LeBron James with really high profile superstar opponents, big time games. That translates to tough games. The Lakers…if you look at the schedule, it’s pretty unforgiving. Like you said, we don’t know who’s going to play at Dallas, at Golden State, at Denver - these are very tough games even for a healthy Lakers team to win. They’re in trouble.”
Six of the Lakers next eight games are against teams in the top six in the West. Four of those eight games are nationally televised. LA’s only “easy” game is their penultimate regular season game against the Thunder at Crypto.com Arena.
Now, it’s very important to note that the Lakers wouldn’t be in this mess if they had found a way to consistently win games over the last couple of months. The schedule, nor Anthony Davis’ foot injury, isn’t entirely to blame for the Lakers 4-12 record since the All-Star break.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst noted how the two games against Denver could be particularly difficult since the Nuggets are in a “dogfight” for the sixth-seed in the West.
Marcus Spears noted that besides the Suns and Thunder, all the other Lakers opponents are playing for something. He also agreed with how difficult the pair of games against the Nuggets will be.
“All the teams they’re playing against…they need them [the wins]. Even that season finale against Denver could mean something to them. In Denver.”
That could lead to the Lakers not getting any breaks with opponents resting their superstars. It could also lead to LA missing the play-in entirely.
