With the Lakers loss last night, they have fallen to 15-19 on the season and into 11th place in the Western Conference. With games coming up against the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder to close out this week and both Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard still ailing from a concussion and shoulder injury, respectively, thing’s don’t seem to be trending upward for the Lakers.
However, despite these struggles, the majority of Lakers Nation remains optimistic about the Lakers playoff chances. According to a Lakers Nation Facebook poll, 68.9 percent of Lakers fans still feel like the Lakers have what it takes to put together a run and make the post season.
There hasn’t been much evidence to suggest that things will turn around soon, but if you look at the current make up of their roster, it’s hard to fathom a team featuring Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Gasol and Howard not playing in the post season.
If there is one thing that the Lakers are going to need to improve on moving forward is getting stops on defense. The Lakers are currently ranked 26th in total defense giving up 101 points per game. This can’t continue if the Lakers are going to make a run and move ahead of teams like Utah, Minnesota, Denver and Portland and finish the year as one of the top eight teams in the conference.