The Lakers find themselves in a similar situation as they were last year. There are only a handful of games remaining, their position in the standings is very much in flux and the team is trying to rack up wins to guarantee themselves, at the very least, a solid play-in spot.
On Wednesday after practice, Lakers guard Austin Reaves left no doubt that he is aware of how important the games remaining on the schedule are for the team.
“The games that are left are really important and that’s kind of the same as it was last year, Reaves said. “You kind of hop into that playoff mode right now and go into every game as a must-win.”
It is encouraging that Reaves understands the importance of this moment and the consequences of dropping games this late into the season. Despite that understanding, the Lakers have lost key matchups over the past few weeks, including two games against the Kings and one against the Warriors. Both of these teams are also in the mix, jockeying for play-in positioning. Dropping these games could prove hurtful if they end up in tie-breaking scenarios with these California teams.
Reaves also discussed those defeats and how they brought the appropriate energy against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday and have to do more of that moving forward.
“Last week, we had an opportunity when we played Sac twice and Golden State and we didn’t capitalize on those,” Reaves said. “You see kind of how things can change so quick that I think everybody, especially from that Atlanta game the other night, you can tell everybody was locked in on one goal and that was winning. The way we do that is playing the game the right way, so I think the intensity is ratcheting up and we’re kind of in that mindset of must-win.”
According to tankathon.com, the Lakers have the fourth easiest remaining schedule in the Western Conference. So, there is an opportunity to gain some ground on the teams above them if they just take care of business against these weaker teams. They also still have a few key matchups left, playing the Golden State Warriors on Apr. 9, and the New Orleans Pelicans on the last game of the season.
The time is now to make one final push and set themselves up for success in the postseason. Austin Reaves and the Lakers seem to understand their situation; now we just have to see if they can execute in these must-win games.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.