The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most historically successful franchises in NBA history. The organization has won 17 NBA Championships over the years, with the most recent coming last season.
The Lakers even have some of the best odds to win the 2020-21 NBA Championship, coming in at +290 as recently as two weeks ago. What’s surprising is how good those odds are despite the Lakers being without their stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James for the last several weeks. The good news is that the duo should be back on the court sooner than later.
However, while their NBA Championship odds look good, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Lakers will enter the playoffs with good positioning. As of April 12, they are 33-20 and hold the fifth seed in the Western Conference. While there’s still more basketball to be played, is it possible that the Lakers might finish the season as the seventh or eighth seed?
Bovada is favoring the Lakers to finish the season as a top-6 team in the Western Conference at -150. Even though those aren’t the greatest odds, it still shows that oddsmakers think that Davis and James’ return will prevent the Lakers from slipping any further or missing the playoffs entirely.
Will the Los Angeles Lakers Finish the 2020-21 NBA Season as a Top-6 Team in the Western Conference?
Odds via Bovada as of Monday, April 12
- Yes -150
- No +110
Can the Mavericks Catch the Lakers?
Although the Lakers mostly control their own destiny when it comes to NBA playoff seeding, you also have to take other teams into account. If the seventh- or eighth-seeded teams don’t warm up enough to catch them, they have nothing to worry about.
The Dallas Mavericks are the current seventh seed team as of April 12. They have a 29-23 record and are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Any time a team has a player as dangerous as Luka Doncic, a team is capable of so many possibilities. After all, the team started off the 2020-21 NBA Season slowly, but Doncic’s play has helped them warm up. He’s also been involved in MVP conversations from time to time and with him averaging 28.5/8.1/8.7, it’s not hard to imagine why.
The Mavericks only sit 3.5 games behind the Lakers, which makes it more than possible for them to catch Los Angeles and the sixth-placed Portland Trail Blazers (31-22). The Mavericks and Lakers will play each other twice more in April.
Can the Grizzlies Catch the Lakers this NBA Season?
While it’s possible for the current seventh-seeded team to catch the Lakers, what about the eighth seed? Right now, the Memphis Grizzlies hold that position, sitting one game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs.
The Grizzlies do have an exciting young team, but it might not be good enough to catch the Lakers. That is unless the Lakers’ NBA season ends in utter devastation.
Simply put, the Grizzlies simply trail the Lakers by too many games, sitting six games back of them. They’re also playing .500 basketball in their last 10 games, which isn’t good enough to catch Los Angeles if they’re also winning and losing the same amount of games as well. While nothing is impossible, it doesn’t seem likely that the Lakers will slip that far down the NBA standings.
The Lakers and Grizzlies do not play each other again this season.
