Following their victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Anthony Davis forwarded to NBA journalists that he and his the Los Angeles Lakers teammates are indifferent to their seed position.
Currently, the Los Angeles Lakers sit in ninth place in the Western Conference standings, with a record of 34-29. If the season culminated now, Davis and company would find themselves facing the Golden State Warriors in the 9-10 tournament game.
“It’s about us, of course. I’m about to go in. We’re a little behind on the eight ball, but we’re there. In case we don’t get the top six, you will have to start the whole play-in process again. We don’t really care which seed we belong to. We proved it last year. It does not matter. The playoffs are a different animal. … For us, it’s just about coming in and taking on every opponent from there.
Staying entrenched in ninth would require the Lakers to post triumphs in two straight play-in games to secure the eighth seed. Likewise, the same stipulation applies if they go down to the 10th slot.
Recalling last season, the Lakers triumphed over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-in 7-8. Subsequently, they entered the playoffs as the seventh seed and cruised past the Memphis Grizzlies and Warriors all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they succumbed to a sweep at the hands of the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers’ next matchup is scheduled against the Sacramento Kings, currently seventh in the Western Conference. The Lakers trail Sacramento by a margin of 1.5 games in the standings.
“It’s a very important game,” Anthony Davis said. “We’re playing them twice over the next week. It’s going to be a big game and next week’s game will be a big game. We need to go in and take care of business.
Since winning the championship in 2020, the Lakers’ playoff trajectory has seen them exit in the first round, suffer a total absence in the playoffs, and fall short in the conference finals.
