If the Los Angeles Lakers’ blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday – one that got the team booed by its home crowd – was alarming for those with money on their playoff chances, the team’s remaining strength of schedule is even more concerning.
The Lakers, who occupy the ninth seed in the Western Conference, have the second-toughest schedule remaining in the NBA, according to Tankathon. Struggling with a Pelicans team that is 10th in the conference and 2.5 games behind them doesn’t bode well for their chances to climb out of the bottom two spots in the play-in tournament. Especially with Anthony Davis out for the foreseeable future.
The difference between the first two and last two play-in spots is having to win an extra game, facing elimination both times. With the way the Lakers have played, consecutive wins is a lot to ask. It also can’t be assumed they’ll even remain a top-10 team.
