The Los Angeles Lakers had a rocky season this year. It used to be the top 8 teams in each NBA conference garenteed to make the playoffs. Since 2021, seeds 7-10 have to go through the play-in tournament. The 7th and 8th seed have to win only one game to enter while the 9th and 10th seed have to win 2.
After starting out 14-9, the Lakers went in a tailspin only winning 3 games within a span of a month. The western conference was supercharged throughout the year. It was a couple Sundays ago when the Lakers destroyed the New Orleans Pelicans by almost 20pts to leapfrog into 8th place instead of having to be the 10th seed losing the 3-way tie breaker between them, the Sacramento Kings, and the Golden State Warriors. They were swept in the season series by the Kings, and the Warriors beat them 3-1. If they were 9th and 10th, they were likelier to not be playing in the playoffs today.
Surprise joy hit me a couple Sundays ago and again when the Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans in the 7th-8th seed tournament winning 110-106. As a Lakers fan, it was a major relief just to see them in the playoffs after seeing all the challenges they had to overcome this year whether it’s: injuries to their role players, chemistry, and expectations after last year’s surprising run towards the end to the western conference finals only to get swept by the Denver Nuggets 4-0 in a typical best of 7 series.
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The Los Angeles Lakers had a rocky season this year. It used to be the top 8 teams in each NBA conference garenteed to make the playoffs. Since 2021, seeds 7-10 have to go through the play-in tournament. The 7th and 8th seed have to win only one game to enter while the 9th and 10th seed have to win 2.
After starting out 14-9, the Lakers went in a tailspin only winning 3 games within a span of a month. The western conference was supercharged throughout the year. It was a couple Sundays ago when the Lakers destroyed the New Orleans Pelicans by almost 20pts to leapfrog into 8th place instead of having to be the 10th seed losing the 3-way tie breaker between them, the Sacramento Kings, and the Golden State Warriors. They were swept in the season series by the Kings, and the Warriors beat them 3-1. If they were 9th and 10th, they were likelier to not be playing in the playoffs today.
Surprise joy hit me a couple Sundays ago and again when the Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans in the 7th-8th seed tournament winning 110-106. As a Lakers fan, it was a major relief just to see them in the playoffs after seeing all the challenges they had to overcome this year whether it’s: injuries to their role players, chemistry, and expectations after last year’s surprising run towards the end to the western conference finals only to get swept by the Denver Nuggets 4-0 in a typical best of 7 series.
Every time I see a young child! Their smiling faces,
their boundless energy, and their baked-in
expectation that the world is theirs to know.