The Los Angeles Lakers are all but officially out of the playoffs, and a loss against the Brooklyn Nets later tonight will officially put them out of postseason contention.
However, with 11 games left, it is still possible for them to make the playoffs.
Mathematically, there's a very, very little chance of the Lakers making it to the postseason.
First and foremost, the Purple and Gold will have to go 11-0 moving forward. That's the only way for them to have a fighting chance. Then, they will have to hope that one of the five to eight seeds — the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers — would lose all of their remaining 10 games.
Those four squads have an identical 42-30 record, so if for some reason, one of them loses 10 straight, that will give the Lakers the opening they need. If all these teams reach 43 wins, it would doom LeBron James and Co. even if they win their final 11 games.
If the scenario above happens, the Lakers will be at 42-40 and will be tied with one of the Thunder, Spurs, Jazz or Clippers. So how will the Purple and Gold advance? Well, that is where their head-to-head match-ups against the four other teams will matter.
The Lakers and Thunder have won against each other this season. They will meet one last time on April 3.
The Spurs beat the Lakers in the regular season series 3-1.
The Lakers will face the Jazz twice, on March 28 on the road and April 8 at home.
Article Continues BelowThe Clippers are up 2-1 against the Lakers so far, with their final meeting this season happening on April 6.
The Spurs will undoubtedly eliminate the Lakers if the tie-breaker rules will apply, but they have a chance against the three remaining teams.
Assuming that the Lakers will sweep their remaining schedule, they will have the tie-breaker edge against OKC and Utah, as they will win the season series 2-1 and 2-0 respectively.
Their match-up with the Clippers is a bit complicated. They need to beat the Clippers to tie the regular season series 2-2, and they will have to win by a margin of 17 or more.
So, if this scenario happens, the Lakers will definitely make the playoffs. The seeding look good too, as they will end up either the sixth or seventh spot. They will avoid a nightmarish first round match-up against the Golden State Warriors.
Is this possible? Not really.
But miracles happen when the impossible is achieved, right?