The Los Angeles Lakers may not be making up ground in the West standings, but hope remains alive that the franchise can pull off some upsets this postseason. According to veteran guard Austin Rivers, they are a team that nobody wants to face in the playoffs, especially in the first two rounds.
“This is exactly what we wanted to see,” Rivers said on the Lakers, via Get Up. “We wanted to see the Lakers play this type of basketball early in the season. You look at their starting lineup. Numbers were spread out across the board, [Austin] Reaves, [D’Angelo] Russell, [Anthony] Davis, [Rui] Hachimura, LeBron James rounding it out... These [Thunder, Timberwolves] are young teams who don’t have that experience. These are teams that anybody and everybody I think sees the Lakers being able to compete, not only compete but beat. The only team ahead of them that we know they cannot beat is Denver. So as long as they don’t match up with them, and if they’re able to get out of this play-in, I think the Lakers could make a realistic run back to the conference finals.”
The Lakers have experienced some rough turbulence this season due to injuries, lineup changes, and various obstacles that have been thrown their way all season long.
Coming off last season’s run to the Conference Finals, there was an expectation that the Lakers would compete for a top seed this year. Instead, they’ve barely managed to hold their ground at 9th and are on a collision course with the Warriors for the final playoff spot in the West.
Even so, the Lakers proved last spring how dangerous they can be at full strength when they caught fire down the stretch and won two playoff series as the 7th seed. Positions aside, the Lakers pose arguably the biggest threat in the West (second to Denver) based on what we saw in the 2023 postseason and the team has learned better than to put too much weight on their regular-season standing.
Los Angeles Lakers Vs. Minnesota Timberwolves In Round One?
The West standings are in a constant state of flux right now and there’s no way to know how things will end up until the moment finally arrives. As it stands, the Lakers would have to win two play-in games to even advance to the playoffs, one at home against the Warriors and one on the road against either New Orleans, Sacramento, or the Phoenix Suns depending on who wins on the other side of the play-in bracket.
Assuming the Lakers make the cut, and advance to the playoffs, they will either face the Timberwolves, Nuggets, or Thunder in round one and all three opponents would give them a bitter fight.
After their most recent game, the current situation has the Lakers pinned up against Minnesota and it’s probably their preferred matchup. As good as the Wolves have been with Rudy Gobert down low and Anthony Edwards leading the way, their youth and inexperience will be exposed in the playoffs and LeBron James is better than anyone at using his knowledge and understanding of the sport to his ultimate advantage.
Of course, with Anthony Davis under the rim, the Lakers are particularly well-suited to handle Minnesota’s size and defensive intensity, which primarily comes from veteran star big man Rudy Gobert.
While the Lakers would likely still come in as underdogs in the series, they could give the Timberwolves a serious scare in the right conditions and the same can be said for their chances against most teams in the West.
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