“To get into the Playoffs the Lakers have to go into a winning streak,” Magic Johnson warns the Lakers that they must win over half of their remaining games to make the playoffs

The Los Angeles Lakers cannot afford to slack anymore as their slim playoff hopes are starting to fade with each defeat.

“To get into the Playoffs the Lakers have to go into a winning streak,” Magic Johnson warns the Lakers that they must win over half of their remaining games to make the playoffs

Los Angeles Lakers

The business end of the season is here, and the Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of unfinished business. The California team is currently last in their division and 13th in the Western Conference. With only 24 games remaining, they must win at least 16 of them to qualify for the play-ins. Win streaks have not been a trend in Los Angeles this season, but they will need to string one together if they want to play postseason basketball. 

The longest stretch of games the Lakers have gone without losing this season is just 5. That stretch started on LeBron James‘ 38th birthday and ended a week later. Lakers legend Magic Johnson tweeted, “To get into the Playoffs the Lakers have to go into a winning streak. If they (Lakers) get in nobody will want to play them in the Playoffs“. Additionally saying that a winning streak will revitalize spirits in LA and make them a force in the playoffs. James is no stranger to carrying lower seeds to the NBA finals but a 7/8 seed might be too much even for The King.

The Los Angeles Lakers have taken part in the play-in tournament once before in 2021 and did make the playoffs by defeating the Golden State Warriors. However, that playoff run crashed in 6 games to the Phoenix Suns who eventually made the finals. Going 16-8 in a conference with so much talent while LeBron James is injured is no easy task. Although if there’s any team in NBA history you do not bet against, it is the Lakers.

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The Los Angeles Lakers were in an eerily similar position exactly 10 years ago

Los Angeles Lakers during the Kobe Bryant days

In 2012/13 the Lakers were coming off back-to-back conference semi-final losses and were struggling. Kobe Bryant was playing at his usual best but he had an evident lack of support. Kobe was the only Laker averaging over 20 points a game at 27.3 whereas the next highest was Dwight Howard at 17. The Lakers had 25 games left in the season with only 28 wins under their belt.

Then Lakers coach Mike D’antoni said anything under 45 wins will not be enough. The Lakers ended the season with exactly 45 wins going 17-8 in their final 25 games to secure the 7 seed. They went on a streak of 5 consecutive wins to end the season. However, they eventually got swept in the first round by the eventual finalists in the San Antonio Spurs. They did not make the playoffs since then until 2020.

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The Lakers this year are coming off a season where they completely missed the playoffs. Their best player is 38 but is still averaging 30 a game. Anthony Davis is their next-best option but he has only played 35 games this season. The Lakers have 24 games left and just 27 wins so far. They will need to channel their inner Mamba mentality if they want to repeat history and clinch a playoff berth. Although, with the addition of the play-in tournament the scenario is a bit different as the Lakers needed to get a top 8 seed back then. Now any seed from 7-10 will give them a shot at the playoffs. Even if they do end up replicating the 12/13 season, they would hope not to replicate getting swept in the playoffs.

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