After three days off, the Los Angeles Lakers faced the undermanned Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night, needing a win. The Lakers are nearing the end of the 2023-24 season, and every game is important as the playoff seeding becomes more competitive.
With the victory on Friday and the Golden State Warriors loss, the Lakers climbed to ninth place in the Western Conference. If this holds, the Lakers will play their first-round Play-In Tournament game at home against the Warriors. However, the Lakers would still need to win two more games to get to the eighth spot.
What seed a team receives in the Play-In Tournament is extremely important, as being the eighth seed rather than the ninth seed might provide a team two chances to make the playoffs instead of one. Despite the significance of this placement, LeBron James reinforced a troubling reality during Friday’s game: the Lakers do not care.
LeBron: "At the end of the day, we're not really focused on seeding."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) March 23, 2024
LeBron James saying Lakers don’t care about seeding is dangerous
At some point, there is a benefit to remaining calm about the circumstance and only controlling what the team can. Even if the Lakers win every game the rest of the way, they are not guaranteed to overtake the Sacramento Kings. As a result, Los Angeles must only concentrate on regulating what is within its power.
However, being unconcerned about seeding is a worrying indicator. This is not an instance when there is no discernible difference between the fifth and sixth seeds. There is a significant disparity in the play-in seeds, and the Lakers must compete for the best possible circumstances.
As a seventh-seeded team, you have two home games and must win only one to advance to the playoffs. As the tenth seed, you must win two consecutive away games to advance to the eighth seed. The two paths are significantly different.
And, given how the Lakers have performed this season, there is little chance that they will be able to win back-to-back do-or-die games if that is what is required. Heck, the Kings have beaten the Lakers five times in a row, so even if the Lakers go past the Warriors, they have little chance of defeating the Kings.
Los Angeles might also face the Suns or Mavericks, depending on who wins the seventh seed and whether they lose to the Kings. Even that is a difficult struggle, especially given that the Lakers must first defeat the Warriors.
