It’s going to take all 82 games to settle the Western Conference. While the Lakers’ win on Sunday put them back in control of finishing as the No. 8 seed, there are three possible seeds — the eighth, ninth or tenth seeds — they can still end up with and eight different scenarios that could play out.
In short, nothing is yet settled.
On Sunday, the two games out of their own that Lakers fans need to keep an eye on are Warriors vs. Jazz and Kings vs. Trail Blazers. Every Western Conference team is playing a team within the conference and all games begin at 12:30 p.m. PT, so no one can alter their strategy or have knowledge of a final result before playing their game.
So, what’s the path towards eight and what gets them as low as tenth? Here is a breakdown of how the Lakers can reach the best and worst-case scenarios.
If the Lakers beat the Pelicans on Sunday
The good news is the Lakers will enter Sunday morning as the eighth seed and if they beat the Pelicans, they will stay there. The only jumbling around will come from below them, which ultimately doesn’t matter for the Lakers other than to determine whether the Kings or Warriors host the 9-10 play-in game.
Here’s every outcome surrounding the Lakers if they do in fact take care of business and win in New Orleans on the road.
- If the Lakers, the Kings win and the Warriors win, the standings will remain the same, with the Lakers in eighth place, the Kings in ninth and the Warriors in tenth.
- If the Lakers win, the King lose and the Warriors win, then the Lakers will be in eighth place, the Warriors jump to ninth and the Kings fall to tenth.
- If the Lakers win, the Kings win and the Warriors lose, the Lakers stay in eighth, the Kings in ninth and the Warriors in tenth.
- In the last Lakers win scenario, if the Lakers win, the Kings lose and the Warriors lose, the Lakers will be eighth, the Kings will be ninth and the Warriors will finish as the tenth seed.
If the Lakers lose to the Pelicans on Sunday
If the Lakers disappoint us one last time on the final game of the season, then the situation is much dicier and eight, nine and ten will all be possible.
And that very well may happen, given that the Lakers have the toughest matchup between the three teams, according to
as they are facing the sixth-seed Pelicans. Comparatively, the Warriors are playing the 31-50 Utah Jazz and the Kings facing off against the 21-60 last-place Portland Trail Blazers
Here are the scenarios if the Lakers lose on Sunday.
- If the Lakers lose, the Kings win and the Warriors win, Sacramento will get the eighth seed, Golden State will be ninth and L.A. will be tenth.
- If the Lakers lose, the Kings lose and the Warriors win, the Warriors will be eighth, the Lakers will end at ninth and the Kings will be tenth.
- If the Lakers lose, the Kings win and the Warriors lose, then Sacramento will be eighth, Los Angeles is ninth and Golden State remains at tenth.
- Lastly, if the Lakers lose, the Kings lose and the Warriors lose, nothing changes the Lakers will be eighth, Kings stay at ninth and the Warriors will be tenth.
It may seem complicated, but ultimately, if the Lakers win, they will be the eighth seed. If they lose, then either the Kings or the Warriors have to lose or the Lakers will drop down in the standings.
The reason for this is that the Lakers do not own the tiebreaker on either team. They were swept by the Kings and lost three out of four versus the Warriors. They need to have a better record and they currently do.
If they want things to remain this way, then they need to beat Anthony Davis’ former team and secure the eighth spot, guaranteeing they don’t have to win two double-elimination games to make the playoffs.
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