Chances are high that they could be in the play-in again this year, but we don't know if they can get and pass through. It seems that the Lakers are really demoralized at this point, very inconsistent even Lebron is.

A lot of what if, hopefully we will see how Davis can perform if he goes back, but it seems a lot cause already for the Lakers.

Because until now we still believe that the Lakers will make it.

Before the season starts, they are in the top 3 favorites to win the championship, that's due to the hype of Westbrook.
Imagine how powerful their roster are, they had already LBC and Davis, and they added WB, so people really got hype without knowing the Lakers sacrifice their 2nd unit who help them win a championship before.

That is a question mark but as of this moment, they dropped to the 10th spot tied with the New Orleans with 30-41 win-loss record. The Spurs are 2 and a half games below them and if they will continue to play inconsistently within their next games, there is a chance that even Spurs might clinch to the 10th spot (hope it won't happen though). I just browsed the remaining schedule of the Lakers and it seems that they have one of the toughest schedules because in their 11 games, 8 of them are against playoffs team like PHI, DAL, CLE, GSW, UTA, PHX and DEN (twice). They need to play consistently and as one if they really want to enter the play-ins because right now, I don't think that they can enter the playoffs without going to play-ins.

It looks like Davis will be their savior "once again". We are expecting that if he comes back, the morale of the team will come back and will play better than how they are playing right now. Now with regards to them going into the play-in tournament, as of now they are hanging at the 10th spot though I believe that they can still enter the play-ins (for some reasons). With the Lakers clinching the playoffs, chances are low especially if some of them aren't healthy. All of them must play during play-ins and playoffs (if they make it).

Denver Nuggets got an unfortunate loss against Boston Celtics in their home game. Celtics were the side being favoured though but I still didn't expect Nuggets to give up early. But they really did. Nuggets' performance in the second quarter was very poor and the quarter score was 16-35 for them. This could be the main reason for this loss by 104-124. Jokic had an impressive effort as always but there is still no other player to accompany him to reach victories. And for Celtics, J. Brown and J. Tatum were really great by scoring 30 points both.

Before even worrying on what would be the their outcome on playoffs with Davis, let's first discuss what would be their situation or can they even survive in the play-in tournament without Davis and judging by the looks of it, it's not that certain that they will eventually survive the play-in.

And let's say that they have successfully got a seat in the playoffs because they survived. There is a high chance that they will face the Phoenix Suns at the preliminary rounds and we quite knew what would be the result even if AD was there.

Yes, I just saw that clip where Lebron was frustrated slamming the ball three times and even said "God damn it!" against the Raptors. No technical foul was called but that says it all. It's like Cleveland all over again with JR Smith. He just cannot find the player that will be a big help to him and lessen the load. It's AD but not yet available.
One player is not enough, in a team of 15, someone should do better.


 

Yes, I also agree that Dennis Schröder has quite a contribution to the Rockets. He gave a new and fresh air to the young team's offense. I think he plays like Rondo, which is what Houston needs IMHO.

Tonight, there is an important game in the East. Heat vs 76ers. Heat will probably be missing Butler due to injury. And 76ers also missing Embid, to keep him fresh for the playoffs. Last game between these teams, 76ers scored amazingly low, 82 points. Let's see if they can have good offense this time. But I expect a low scoring game, although a good one to watch.

As a team, the Lakers are flat.

The fact that the bulk of their team is extremely old means that the team is not driven mentally to comeback - as there is nothing else to prove. Obviously, physically these people aren't in their peak condition either.

It would be interesting to see how the offseason goes for the Lakers. AD may well leave in pursuit of a better destination.

We can agree to disagree.  Lebron started earlier than Jordan as well.  Lebron is great no doubt, but the goat that's not just a given if he passes Kareem.  Jordan unretired and won 3 championships and dominated.  As good as the era was (magic, Hakeem, Ewing, reggie, barkley, Malone, etc etc) he was undeniable the best player on the court always.  And like I said different era, now aways no one plays d and hand checks are fouls.  Jordan in this era would be insane.

Good for him, however, the excitement is not that high because the Lakers are losing games so it's not good to celebrate the success of one person in a team while the team are in serious struggle this year. Lebron could drop 30+ points in a game because he is the top scorer, and sometimes he can make more than that especially when Westbrook struggles on making shots.