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The Lakers need to make up ground in the Western Conference and it will not be an easy task. Los Angeles has an incredibly tough schedule for the rest of the year.

Head Coach Frank Vogel is undaunted by the Lakers strength-of-schedule.

“I don’t really worry about it too much. I feel like we have a group, especially when we get healthy, that is going to be able to compete with anybody in the league when we play to our ability. The schedule doesn’t really change if that’s your mindset. If you play to your ability, you can beat anyone. We feel that way about our group.”

A veteran team like the Lakers should be unfazed by remaining schedule rankings. The Lakers still have eight games against the Western Conference royalty: Golden State (3), Phoenix (2), Utah (3).

To Vogel’s point, the return of Anthony Davis will be a big boost for the Lakers. Getting an All-NBA player back into your lineup rarely, if ever, negatively affects a team’s performance.

Vogel isn’t expending a ton of energy on perusing the Lakers upcoming schedule.

"We don’t really spend a lot of time focusing on that and we’ll just play the games as they come."

The Lakers have won four-in-a-row and six of their last seven. They’ll cap off their five game homestand with a talented Grizzlies team on Sunday.

Vogel and the Lakers aren’t worried about the long haul. They’re taking it one mile at a time.