The Los Angeles Lakers have finally done it – they are .500. A record that they haven’t held since January 25 of last year. Coincidentally, LeBron James was injured back then as well. This year, they were written off, and with 8 games to go, they stand a chance to be in the playoffs for the first time in 2 years.
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They may very well remain in the play-in spots, but the push from 13th place just a couple of months ago shows how much the team has changed. Skip Bayless, perennial hater of the Lakers is finally “loving” the Lakers, and the aggression they are showing to get to the postseason.
All of this, while LeBron is out. When he was on the new look team, they looked like a force to be reckoned with. These guys right now still have the mettle to do it, bar a few niggling concerns. Skip showing love to a team that he hates, the end must be near.
Skip Bayless has always said LeBron James cannot close – tonight, they did that just fine without him
With the clock winding down in the fourth quarter, it looked like, at one point, Shai Gilgeous Alexander was going to steal it from the Lakers at 105-105. Before tip-off, OKC and the purple and gold had the same record (36-37) and were both aiming for the traditional last spot in the playoffs.
The Mavericks were in free fall, having lost to the Charlotte Hornets just before this game. They dropped down to the 11th spot, just outside the play-in teams. A team with high expectations that is struggling to beat the worst teams in the East? Skip must be salivating, thinking of all the ways he can bash Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving!
While his favorite team, the San Antonio Spurs, is firmly out of the race, any other Texan team falling out is happiness for him. He now has more than one person to slander – slandering Russell Westbrook was getting old. From the sidelines, LeBron James must be itching to get back on the court, not to prove to Skip wrong, but to himself.
Skip never favored the ball to be in Bron’s hands during the dying embers of the game, although he’s just the most clutch player the league has ever seen. Tonight, Dennis Schroeder showed OKC what they could have had. Anthony Davis had a monster night, scoring 37 points on 15 attempts. The purple and gold are primed for Bron’s return, and Skip is waiting for it.
What next for the Los Angeles Lakers?
With no set timeline for Bron to return, the 17x champions must take it one game at a time. Their season is at the peak of the crescendo- any slip-ups will cost them dearly. 6 of their last 8 games are with their direct rivals, and losing any of them could change their standings entirely.
After they finish a doubleheader with the Bulls, 2 games with the Jazz await. A Westbrook return to his former team is on the cards too. The Lakers are in a precarious position, but an exciting end is on the cards.
