The Los Angeles Lakers scored a surprising and definitive win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, beating that team because of the fourth-quarter heroics of LeBron James.
On Thursday morning, many NBA analysts were considering what’s ahead for the team after such a powerful and dominant performance.
Appearing on “Undisputed,” Rachel Nichols said she gave the Lakers a 20% chance of making the NBA Finals this year.
That might be higher than what other people are predicting but her statement also came with a warning.
“There are teams ahead of them in the standings that can easily knock them out in the second round,” Nichols said.
.@Rachel__Nichols is giving the Lakers a 20% chance to make the NBA Finals:
“There are teams ahead of them in the standings that can easily knock them out in the second round.” pic.twitter.com/TEVrOB5294
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) February 29, 2024
Nichols noted that the Lakers are in the midst of a very tough stretch of games.
Although they face the inferior Washington Wizards on Thursday night, they also face off against the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and others in the days ahead.
Thankfully for the Lakers, those games will be held at home, which will help them out, but their upcoming schedule is going to present many challenges.
The Lakers haven’t had a lot of luck against many of the teams ranked higher than them in the Western Conference standings.
That means that if they are able to win in the Play-In Tournament and reach the playoffs, they will have their work cut out for them.
Of course, they impressed many last season when they overcame the odds and went all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
But a lot has changed in the West since then and they might not be able to do that again.
The Lakers always have a chance of reaching the Finals but the road to a championship is very rocky this year, despite their triumphant win on Wednesday night.
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