Lakers Playoff Watch: LA Is On The Outside Of The Play-In Looking In

5 West play-in clubs are active tonight.

Your Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in a precarious playoff position ahead of tonight's action.

At 35-37, LA is presently the 11th seed in the Western Conference, tied by record with the 12th-seeded New Orleans Pelicans (LA currently possesses the tiebreaker, by virtue of having a better interconference record).

LA will hope to improve its standing, but it won't be alone. All told, five Western Conference play-in hopefuls are active tonight. 

The 36-36 Mavericks (currently the eighth seed) are hosting the 37-36 Golden State Warriors (currently the sixth seed), a very beatable road team this year (8-29). These are both direct competitors of LA, so it's weird to "root" for either squad, but I suppose one may want the Mavericks to fall further since they're ostensibly the weaker the team.

Elsewhere among today's contests, the 36-37 Minnesota Timberwolves (the ninth seed) square off against the 36-36 Atlanta Hawks. So, today only, you have our permission to root for Trae Young, a guy loathed by teammates and opponents alike.

All-Star Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen is back in the fold for the 35-36 Jazz tonight, as the West's No. 10 seed prepares to put the nail in the coffin of the 31-40 Portland Trail Blazers (the 13th seed). Portland is 3.5 games behind the 12th-seeded Pelicans and your Lakers, and a win for LA and loss for the Blazers tonight would more or less end their season, as odds are good the club would not be able to catch the other clubs at the fringes of the play-in bracket.

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