Lakers Can Continue Hot Streak With Anticipated Homestand

The Lakers play their next six games at Staples Center

The Lakers hope to continue their hot streak, and they’ll have the opportunity to do so in a long homestand that starts with a game against Philadelphia on Tuesday. They’ll play some of the top teams in the Western Conference.

The Lakers (46-13) start a stretch in which they play five of six games at home, but all six of those games are at Staples Center. The lone road game is against the Clippers. Two times during this stretch, they Lakers will have two days off between games.

It’s been a great stretch for the Lakers - who are in first place in the Western Conference - as they’ve won eight of their last nine games.

The NBA playoffs start in just over six weeks, and the Lakers will have plenty of playoff-caliber preparation as they play Denver (second), the Clippers (third) and Houston (fourth) this homestand.

They can extend their streak to nine wins out of 10 tonight against an inconsistent Philadelphia team. After that, they have two days off before a highly-anticipated matchup of the best of the Western Conference versus Eastern Conference against Milwaukee, which has the most wins (52) in the NBA. 

The Bucks won the first game against the Lakers in Milwaukee on Dec. 19, with Giannis Antetokounmpo nearly getting a triple-double with 34 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Anthony Davis had 36 points in that game.

Then it’s a game against the Brooklyn Nets followed by a Sunday afternoon game at the Clippers. They’ll play James Harden and Houston and round out the homestand against Denver, which is tied with the Clippers at 5 1/2 games behind the Lakers.

After this homestand, they’ll play consecutive games against Utah, an away-and-home, followed by their last long significant roadtrip of the regular season, a six-game trip against Charlotte, Detroit, Toronto, Cleveland, Washington and Minnesota.