The Lakers Final Stretch
The last 5 games of the NBA regular season are the most important for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Following a solid victory against the Chicago Bulls, the Los Angeles Lakers played the Minnesota Timberwolves in what may have been their most crucial game of the 2022–23 season. The Lakers and Timberwolves were tied for seventh place in the rankings, and with the Lakers taking over the game, they took exclusive ownership of that spot.
The Lakers' journey to the playoffs would have been much more difficult if they had lost since they would have slid to eighth.
The Los Angeles Lakers are battling it out for a spot in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament in a close race. Due to how close all of these teams are, one victory or one defeat may shift the Lakers up a spot or two. Los Angeles is out of time to clinch a top-10 seed and a place in the play-in tournament with around 5 games remaining.
It looks like the Lakers were aware of the stakes, and LeBron James was pleased with the team's performance against Minnesota. “It took a full team effort and just not panicking. We understand that Minnesota has been playing some good basketball as of late and are pretty good at home”, via Spectrum SportsNet.
Anthony Davis put up yet another incredible two-way effort with 38 points and 17 rebounds. But in the third quarter, Davis landed on Wenyen Gabriel's foot and twisted his left ankle, it was a scary moment. The star needed assistance getting to the bench and appeared to be in significant agony. Fortunately, he was able to stay in the game.
Later, Davis revealed that he had no intention of leaving the game and explained how he had managed to continue playing. “I knew I was going to play regardless. Just that initial tweak, a little bit of pain and throbbing and stuff. Just let it kinda calm down, but I didn’t want to stay too long and then it kinda throbs more. Tied the shoes up tighter and just kinda played off adrenaline until the end of the game and then was able to get some treatment. But I’ll be fine”, via Spectrum SportsNet.
When the Lakers face the Rockets in Houston on Sunday, they will want to maintain their momentum on their "get back" road trip. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers recognize the significance of winning every game with only a few games remaining, so he is looking forward to Sunday.
James told reporters “Our focus shifts to Houston right now. [...] But our focus shifts now. [...] I think we’re in a good place. But the game is not won on paper and it’s not won on these phones. It’s won in between the four lines. So we can talk about it but we got to go out and handle business. Sunday can’t come fast enough for me.” via Spectrum SportsNet.
Many assumed Davis would miss the team's game against the Houston Rockets because they had just one day off before that. When questioned about whether he will play on Sunday, he shut down that idea saying “Oh, hell yeah. Yeah” via Spectrum SportsNet.
With only five games remaining in the 2022–23 campaign, having Davis available for most, if not all, of them are practically necessary for them to finish the season victorious. Hearing that Davis will play against the Rockets is, to put it mildly, positive for Los Angeles, which still has a chance to earn the No. 6 seed.
But how he feels over the following couple of days will ultimately determine his position. We'll have to wait and watch because the Lakers have shown to be very cautious with their players.