Lakers News: Young Western Conference Squad Looking to Steal Play-in Spot From LA With Late Postseason Push

The Lakers control their own fate but have been incredibly inconsistent all season.

As things currently stand, the Los Angeles Lakers hold the 9th seed in the Western Conference standings. They have hovered around this area for a while now and are likely to end up in the play-in tournament, barring a late-season push.

However, it's no guarantee that the Lakers even make the play-in. At this point in the season, every game counts, so the team has very little margin of error.

They may hold a few-game lead over any teams looking to get into the playoff hunt, but one young team in the West seems to be making a late-season charge. That would be the Houston Rockets, who have won eight out of their last 10 games.

They are currently just 2.5 games back of the Golden State Warriors for the 10th seed, which means they aren't too far from Los Angeles. If the Lakers aren't careful down the stretch, Houston could steal a play-in spot from them.

"Stealing a play-in spot from the Golden State Warriors or Los Angeles Lakers and then securing a playoff berth would be a dream finish to their bounce-back season."

Per Kevin O'Connor via The Ringer

Making things worse for the Lakers is the fact that the Rockets own the tiebreaker over them. Houston is just 3.5 games right now behind Los Angeles, so the Lakers really can't afford to slip up moving forward.

The Lakers control their own fate, in terms of getting into the play-in at least. They have a fairly easy schedule down the line, compared to what they've dealt with recently, so there should be no excuse.

It's been a year of major inconsistency for this Lakers team and the hope is that they can go on a nice run themselves. If they can at least put themselves into the 7th or 8th spot in the Western Conference, things would be much easier for them going forward.