The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs have separated themselves record-wise from the rest of the Western Conference, but there is a fierce battle underneath them for playoff positioning. The Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets are separated by just a few games, and the Phoenix Suns are lingering around as well and could pass one of these teams and climb out of the Play-In Tournament.
With everyone so close in the standings, it only makes sense that tiebreakers could very well come into play, meaning every game matters that much more. Thankfully for the Lakers, their recent win streak has been bolstered by four victories against these very teams they are battling against.
Because of this, the Lakers are now in excellent position against their Western Conference rivals both in the standings, and with the tiebreakers.
Lakers own tiebreaker vs. Rockets
The Rockets dominated the Lakers on Christmas Day, with Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson destroying L.A’s defense with ease. But the Lakers were able to turn things around as these teams are going in opposite directions.
The Lakers picked up back-to-back road victories, powered by Luka Doncic and LeBron James, both of whom made history in the second contest, allowing them to clinch the season series 2-1 over the Rockets. Doncic has averaged 33.7 points in three games against Houston while Doncic was nearly perfect from the field in the second victory.
Lakers own tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves
Everyone remembers the Timberwolves running through the Lakers in five games in the first round of the playoffs last season. The Lakers did too as they exacted a bit of revenge by sweeping the season series between these teams, 3-0, this year.
The first two came early in the year as the Lakers got two of their first three victories of the regular season against Minnesota, one of those coming with both Doncic and James out when Austin Reaves hit a floater at the buzzer to clinch the win. The third win came amidst the Lakers’ recent win streak with Doncic and Reaves carrying the Lakers to a dominant second half performance with James again sitting out.
Doncic is averaging nearly a 40-point triple-double in his two contests against the Timberwolves while Reaves is averaging 28 points and 11.7 assists in three games.
Lakers own tiebreaker vs. Nuggets
The history between the Lakers and Nuggets is well-known, and thanks to the clutch heroics of Doncic and Reaves in their overtime victory in one of the best games of the season across the entire league, the Lakers were able to clinch the season series 2-1 over Denver.
The Lakers used a dominant second half to win the first matchup between these teams in January as Luka poured in 38 to lead the way with Reaves out due to his calf injury. Denver returned the favor in a hard-fought gritty contest early in March before Doncic and Reaves’ 62 combined points allowed the Lakers to edge the final meeting.
Doncic has been the difference maker averaging a triple-double with 31.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 10 assists in the three games.
Lakers does not own tiebreaker vs. Suns
The one team the Lakers don’t hold a tiebreaker against is the Suns, who hold a 3-1 advantage with these teams set to play one more time before the end of the season.
The first three meetings all came in December with the Suns taking two of the three in dominant fashion while the Lakers edged out their victory thanks to some late James free throws. The most recent game saw Phoenix get their third win over L.A. thanks to a Royce O’Neale 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds remaining despite their two leading scorers in Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks both being out.
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