The Los Angeles Lakers managed to get through another difficult regular season in one piece. In fact, they won 11 of their last 14 games to finish 47-35, which is the eighth-best mark in the Western Conference.
They will face the New Orleans Pelicans on the road to start the play-in tournament on Tuesday. If they lose that contest, they will have one more shot at making the playoffs in the second game of the play-in tourney on Friday. In that game, they would host either the Golden State Warriors or Sacramento Kings.
Should Los Angeles win on Tuesday, it would be the seventh seed in the West and start the playoffs against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
That has led to an immediate debate as to whether the team should lose on purpose on Tuesday, so that it could instead get the eighth seed by winning on Friday. In that scenario, they would open the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Why take the risk of a win or go home game on Friday? The Lakers were swept in the regular season by Denver, losing by 10, eight and 12 points. However, they won the season series against the Thunder 3-1.
Some, such as Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen and Roll, think the Lakers should tank Tuesday’s game to draw a more favorable first-round playoff matchup. But the idea is foolish and dangerous.
The Lakers shouldn’t tank their initial play-in tournament game. Absolutely not.
For one, they will have a better chance of beating the Pelicans than they would of defeating either Golden State or Sacramento. The Lakers were swept by Sacramento this season, and they lost their season series to the Warriors, 3-1. Such a strategy would be playing with fire, and it’s something that shouldn’t be done with the way the play-in tourney is set up.
Additionally, the Lakers will have to beat the Nuggets at some point in the playoffs to reach the NBA Finals. There’s an argument to be made the first round would be the best time for them to knock off the world champs.
Los Angeles is mostly healthy, other than Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt. But James is feeling healthy right now, and one never knows what could transpire between now and a potential Western Conference finals matchup versus Denver should the Lakers claim the eighth seed instead of the seventh seed.
Plus, the Lakers are on a roll, and they could be tired if they face Denver later in the playoffs rather than in the first round. If they somehow dispatch Denver in the first round, they would be greatly emboldened and may have a very realistic path to the championship series.
It seems extremely unlikely James and crew will actually prevail in a best-of-seven against the Nuggets, whether it’s in the first or third round of the playoffs. But anything is possible, and the Lakers need to embrace the challenge of facing the team that doubles as their personal piece of kryptonite to start the playoffs.
