The Los Angeles Lakers appear to be peaking at the right time and that was clearly evident in their blowout win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
The win over the Rockets pushed the Lakers back into the No. 7 spot after the New Orleans Pelicans briefly held onto it. The Pelicans earned a huge victory over the L.A. Clippers to move up, but due to the tiebreaker situation with Los Angeles they are now sitting at No. 8.
Not only did the Lakers beat the Rockets to build some momentum, but they also received plenty of help from around the league to help their postseason chances. Perhaps the biggest upset of the day was the Portland Trail Blazers beating the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were at home. Portland has been resting their regulars but somehow found a way to beat Minnesota, who now has to live with being in No. 9.
Another unexpected loss came from the Dallas Mavericks, who somehow lost in overtime to the Atlanta Hawks. Despite a scoring outburst from Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks were unable to get over the hump and have to be panicking at the thought of missing the Play-In Tournament entirely.
Things continued to break in favor of the purple and gold as the Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Phoenix Suns, while the Utah Jazz dropped a nail-biter to the Brooklyn Nets. The Thunder remain 1.5 games up on the Mavericks and own the tiebreaker to boot.
The Golden State Warriors also capped off the night by losing to the Nikola Jokic-less Denver Nuggets, which means four teams now have 38 losses for seeds 5-8.
It looks like Los Angeles will finish at worst in a Play-In Tournament spot, though they still have a shot at the No. 5 seed if they’re able to win out the rest of the way.
Lakers standings update
5. Warriors (41-38)
Upcoming schedule: vs. Thunder (April 4), @ Kings (April 7), @ Trail Blazers (April 9)
6. Clippers (41-38)
Upcoming schedule: vs. Lakers (April 5) vs. Trail Blazers (April 8), @ Suns (April 9)
7. Lakers (40-38)
Upcoming schedule: @ Jazz (April 4), @ Clippers (April 5), vs. Suns (April 7)
8. Pelicans (39-38)
Upcoming schedule: vs. Kings (April 4), vs. Grizzlies (April 5), vs. Knicks (April 7)
9. Timberwolves (39-40)
Upcoming schedule: @ Nets (April 4), @ Spurs (April 8), vs. Pelicans (April 9)
10. Thunder (38-41)
Upcoming schedule: @ Warriors (April 4), @ Jazz (April 6), vs. Grizzlies (April 9)
11. Mavericks (37-42)
Upcoming schedule: vs. Kings (April 5), vs. Bulls (April 7), vs. Spurs (April 9)
12. Jazz (36-42)
Upcoming schedule: vs. Lakers (April 4) vs. Thunder (April 6), vs. Nuggets (April 8)
13. Trail Blazers (33-45)
Upcoming schedule: @ Grizzlies (April 4), @ Spurs (April 6), vs. Warriors (April 9)
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