Los Angeles Lakers May Actually Fight for a Playoff Spot This Season

LOS ANGELES — When the Los Angeles Lakers first convened for training camp in late September, center Timofey Mozgov came in with a clear goal (and question) for the team.

“I think we have to go into the playoffs, or why are we playing?” asked the veteran center.

The answer to “why are we playing?” seemed obvious. After winning just 17 games last year, the Lakers’ primary goal should’ve been developing its squad of young, promising players like Brandon Ingram, D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle.

The team had no real shot to compete in the Western Conference.

In its preseason forecast, ESPN.com predicted the Lakers would win just 25 games to finish dead last in the West.

Fast-forward to Wednesday night in Chicago. The Lakers, playing on the second night of a back-to-back without their starting guard tandem of Nick Young and Russell, overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Bulls, 96-90.

With the win, the Lakers improved to 10-10—good for ninth place in the conference, through almost a quarter of the season.

“The fact that we are [at .500] speaks a lot to the effort that our guys are playing with [and] the trust they have with each other,” Coach Luke Walton said. “If we can keep playing hard and competing, I am confident we will get the more complicated stuff down as well and then we can make real growth happen.”

Walton contends the Lakers are winning because of intensity more so than an understanding of what the coaches want on offense and defense.

“The effort and the competitiveness have been off the charts almost every night for our guys, but we need to get the execution up to par with that,” Walton said.

When it comes to Los Angeles’ playoff hopes, the team won’t catch the elite in the West like the Golden State Warriors (16-2), San Antonio Spurs (15-4) and Los Angeles Clippers (14-5). The Houston Rockets (11-7) are a top offensive group, the Oklahoma City Thunder (12-8) have All-Star Russell Westbrook averaging a triple-double and the Utah Jazz (11-8) are one of the NBA’s best defensive squads.

But the Memphis Grizzlies (11-8) are vulnerable. They’re now without guard Mike Conley (back injury) for an intense six weeks in which they’ll face some of the NBA’s best, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Warriors and Clippers twice apiece.

The eighth-place Portland Trail Blazers (10-10) are struggling to find the same chemistry that made them a playoff darling last season.

The Lakers will draw the Grizzlies twice without Conley and the Blazers four times before the year comes to a close. Those six games could help propel the Lakers to the playoffs considering how close these teams are in terms of records, provided they survive injuries and a heavy schedule ahead.

Of the Lakers’ next 13 games, 10 are on the road. Seven of the 13 are against teams that are currently slotted in the top eight of their respective conferences.

To make matters more difficult, Russell is expected to miss at least the next three games while recovering from a sore left knee. And Young will be sidelined for two to four weeks with a right calf strain, roughly eight to 15 games.

But if the Lakers can get five of the 13, they’ll …

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