Sunday brings the final day of the NBA regular season, with all 30 teams in action, and several games carrying significance for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ahead of their game against the Utah Jazz, they’re 52-29 and fourth in the NBA. Just above them in the third spot are Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at 53-28.
Both the Lakers and Nuggets games will impact their final standings when it comes to who they might host in the opening round of the postseason. A win for the Lakers would push them to 53-29, and a Nuggets loss to the San Antonio Spurs would even the Denver’s record with Los Angeles.
That’s the result that LeBron, coach JJ Redick, and the rest of the Lakers might be hoping for on Sunday night, as it would give Los Angeles the No. 3 seed for the postseason, and a first-round matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The good news is the team can’t finish any worse than a No. 4 seed if they lose their game or Denver wins theirs. It would still mean hosting an opening round matchup against the No. 5 seed.
They’ve won all three meetings with the Timberwolves this past season, and lost only one of three meetings with the Rockets.
In previous seasons, a much younger LeBron James was able to impact things significantly. His teams commanded division leads and playoff positioning, but that hasn’t been the case in an up-and-down season.
However, he led the team to a win two days ago over the Suns, which clinched homecourt for the opening round of the postseason.
He’s continued helping his team as they deal with injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, but many are already predicting a first-round exit could occur, depending on who’s playing in that first-round matchup.
That would be unfortunate, considering this team was rolling after the All-Star break and seemed all good until those injuries struck earlier this month in the team’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City. It’s currently unknown if or when either player could return in the postseason.
There may be good news for the Lakers on Sunday, as Jokic was listed as “questionable” on Saturday ahead of the Nuggets’ game on Sunday. They are on an 11-game winning streak, so time will tell if he suits up or rests for the postseason.
Both the Lakers and Nuggets’ games begin at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, with plenty of fans keeping an eye on the results to see how things shake out.