With the NBA regular season down to its final stages, the Los Angeles Lakers currently find themselves in a scenario where they would be in the play-in tournament as the 7-seed. While this was unimaginable at the outset of the season, injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis have plagued the defending champions all season long. While this would normally lead to frustration and agitation, Davis has felt the exact opposite.
Via Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Davis is enjoying the challenge of trying to claw the Lakers into the top six of the standings in the Western Conference.
“It's been fun, to be honest,” Davis said Sunday after the Phoenix win snapped a stretch in which the defending champs lost eight out of 10. “We were a great team last year, and this is the first time since I've been here that we ran into a challenge. This is a different challenge for us.” – Anthony Davis via ESPN.
It certainly is a different challenge for the Lakers as the idea of them even being in the mix for the play-in tournament portion of the playoffs wasn't considered by anyone on the outside when the season kicked off back in December. Yet, with the final week upon us, it's the Lakers that will have to try and leapfrog Portland to gain the No. 6 seed and avoid the chaos of the play-in.
Anthony Davis seems not to worry whatsoever about what seed the Lakers will be because he knows when this team is healthy and has LeBron James back in the mix as well, they become a whole different animal to try and contain.
“I mean, we know that we're confident against anybody we match up against, especially when we were fully healthy. That's our mindset,” Davis said. “Other teams, you've got to prepare for just because we're fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, whatever we are, we're going to come out and fight. And I think teams know that.” – Anthony Davis.
With games against the Knicks, Rockets, Pacers and Pelicans remaining, it's an advantageous remaining schedule for the Lakers to try and catapult themselves into the safety net of the top 6 spots in the Western Conference. Regardless, Davis is enjoying the ride.
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