The Los Angeles Lakers saw their winning streak halt at nine games after Monday’s 113-110 loss to the Detroit Pistons. They built a decent advantage to retain the third place in the Western Conference, improving to 46-25. Monday’s loss put them at 26 losses, still two fewer than the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves, who have 28 losses each.
Elsewhere, the Houston Rockets fell to 29 losses after a defeat against the Chicago Bulls on Monday. Here’s what the updated playoff picture for the Lakers suggests after Monday’s result.
Los Angeles Lakers NBA Playoff Picture: Updated standings
The Lakers are third in the West with a 46-26 record. They are two games ahead of the Denver Nuggets in fourth and the Minnesota Timberwolves in fifth. The Lakers have a 2.5-game advantage over the Houston Rockets, who are sixth and a six-game advantage over the Phoenix Suns in seventh. Los Angeles holds tie-breakers over the Nuggets, Timberwolves and Rockets.
Los Angeles Lakers NBA Playoff Picture: Best Case Scenario
The Lakers trail the San Antonio Spurs by eight games, making it unlikely for them to go any higher than third. It remains their best-case scenario to finish third in the West. Los Angeles will have home-court advantage for at least the first round. As things stand, Los Angeles would face the Rockets in the opening round.
Los Angeles Lakers NBA Playoff Picture: Remaining Schedule
The Lakers have the fourth-easiest schedule strength, with their opponents having an average winning record of 0.453. The Thunder, Cavaliers and Suns are the only teams over .500 that Los Angeles will face in its final 10 games. The Lakers have at least five games in which they will face opponents that are out of the playoff race.
That includes the 16-win Pacers, 17-win Nets, 16-win Wizards, 23-win Mavericks and 21-win Jazz teams.
The Lakers are on track to finish with 52-53 wins, making it a 6-4 or 7-3 run to close the season.
