The Los Angeles Lakers are currently the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, which has them in line to be in the play-in tournament. To get up to No. 6, the Lakers need to beat the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday and hope the Denver Nuggets beat the sixth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers.
Los Angeles got LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder back together against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday in a win. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel isn't sure what the lineup will look like against the Pelicans, who will be without a bunch of their top guys, including Zion Williamson. Before the win over the Pacers, Vogel did say he had no plans to manipulate the lineup toward any playoff matchup.
Article Continues Below“My opinion is, win as many games as you can and let the seeds fall where they may and be unafraid of any matchup,” he said. “I believe in the basketball gods.”
One would think the goal is to avoid the play-in tournament at all costs. If the Lakers were to wind up in that play-in round, a matchup against the Golden State Warriors or Memphis Grizzlies would be on deck.
Earning the sixth seed would give Los Angeles a first-round matchup against Denver. The Nuggets could easily just tank their game against the Blazers in order to avoid a possible Lakers matchup in the first round.
There's still so much at stake on this final day of the regular season. Even though a play-in spot is still possible, Vogel and his Lakers have to be feeling a lot better now that the stars are healthy and the team is catching fire at the right time. It wouldn't surprise anybody if L.A. won the title from the play-in tournament.