Could The Lakers Miss The Playoffs?

It wasn't exactly a surprise to see the Lakers lose to the Suns yesterday. What would be surprising though, is the thought of the Lakers actually missing the playoffs. The loss dropped L.A. to the seven spot in the Western Conference, and with five games remaining, Kobe and company have some serious work to do if they want to make it into the post-season.

The Lakers' schedule looks like this to end the season: at Denver, vs. the Clippers, at Phoenix, vs. Seattle, and at Sacramento. We don't have to look too hard for an indication of how this might play out, because the Lakers' last five games were against these same five teams. They went 2-3, with their wins coming against Seattle and Sacramento, and there's nothing that tells me that things will be any different this time around. In fact, the Lakers have only won one game against a team with a winning record since the All-Star break. So assuming that trend continues, L.A. would finish at 42-40. Let's see if the Clippers or Golden State might have a schedule that could give them enough wins to overtake the Lakers in the standings.

Golden State's five remaining games are as follows: vs. Utah, at Sacramento, vs. Minnesota, vs. Dallas, and at Portland. A 4-1 or even 5-0 record here isn't out of the question, especially if Dallas is resting people the second to last game of the season. Let's say they win all five just for kicks. That would give the Warriors a 42-40 mark.

Can you see where I'm heading with this? More after the jump.

The Clippers have two more games to play than either the Lakers or the Warriors, but considering who they're playing, I don't think they're too worried. The Clips finish the season like this: at Dallas, at NOOCH, at the Lakers, vs. Portland, vs. Sacramento, at Phoenix, and vs. NOOCH. The Clips should get four wins here fairly easily, then it comes down to whether or not they can beat the Lakers. If they did, that would give them a 5-2 mark and they would finish ... tied with both the Warriors and the Lakers at 42-40!

Alright, I admit that a lot would have to happen for there to be a three-way tie for the last two playoff spots. The Lakers' position seems fairly solid, but with the way the schedules play out for these three teams, they better get as many wins as they can if they want to guarantee themselves a trip to the post-season.