Let’s take a look at the second half of the season before the playoffs begin and see what the road ahead holds. There are 25 games remaining on the schedule; 14 will be at Staples and 11 will be on the road. So that is one positive thing for the Lakers, especially if they want to catch up to the Celtics and Heat for home court advantage in an eventual NBA Finals match-up (notice I have given up on catching up to the Spurs, it is just not going to happen).
Taking a closer look at the remaining 25 games, only seven of those games will feature teams with losing records; therefore it will not be an easy stretch for the purple and gold from here on out. Tough match-ups might be a blessing in disguise because it might get the Lakers playing up to their competition and ready for playoff basketball.
Although the Lakers have more home games for the remainder of the season they will face a rough stretch of road games beginning March 6th when they take on the San Antonio Spurs, followed by the Atlanta Hawks, Heat, and ending in Dallas as they visit the Mavericks on March 12th.
In a perfect world the Lakers would go 4-0, and that is definitely a possibility, but as we near the end of the regular season these games become much more meaningful and racking up the W’s becomes even more crucial. The Lakers will return home and face Dwight Howard on March 14th as they will try to avenge their loss in Orlando. That will begin a seven game home stand for the Lakers.
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