Lakers Main Goal For Remainder of Season Becomes Even More Clear

The Los Angeles Lakers are in a position they haven't been in since their 2019-20 championship season. The Lakers have a chance to finish in the top three in the Western Conference standings if things pan out for them the rest of the way.

This is unfamiliar territory for the Lakers, especially in the last handful of seasons. L.A. has been jockeying for seeding, particularly in the play-in tournament. Poor starts were their Achilles heel, and they would usually pick up the intensity after the All-Star break (which most teams do).

Their slow starts often put them in bad spots down the stretch, making them the No. 8 or No. 7 seed in a loaded Western Conference. However, this season appears to be different as they are the three seed as of Sunday and have a great chance to finish as a top-five seed at worst.

The ideal seeding for the Lakers is finishing as the second or third seed, as the No. 1 seed is way out of reach. That is the goal for the purple and gold for the rest of the season, and they have zero room for slippage.

"With the way the West playoff picture is shaking out, the Lakers will likely finish somewhere between No. 2 and No. 5. Earning the No. 2 or No. 3 seed puts them on the opposite side of the bracket from OKC and gives them at least home-court advantage in one or maybe two rounds. Falling to fourth or fifth puts them on a collision course with OKC in the second round — assuming the Lakers can survive Round 1 — and likely on the road in the conference finals. Seeding and matchups matter as much as ever, and the Lakers have a chance to position themselves for a deep run if they can secure a top-three seed," wrote Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

The Lakers are the second-best team in the West, record-wise. They are tied with the Denver Nuggets, who are the third-seed, while L.A. has a one-game lead on the fourth-seed Memphis Grizzlies and a two-game lead on the fifth-seed Houston Rockets.

It is a tight race for the two seed in the West, and the Lakers' grueling and demanding schedule is not helpful. However, it could benefit them if they take care of business.

From now until the end of the season, the Lakers will face the Nuggets (twice), the Grizzlies, and the Rockets. Those games will be crucial as they will determine whether they have home-court advantage in possibly the first two rounds and avoid the Thunder until the conference finals or only have home-court for possibly one round and face the Thunder in the second round if they make it out of the first round in that scenario.

The two seed should be the best-case scenario for L.A., while the three seed should be the worst case-scenario for the purple and gold.

This next month could tell us a lot about the Lakers with the playoff looming.

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