Although they are in a tight Western Conference playoff race with just five games remaining in the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t batting an eye at the standings ahead of Saturday’s meeting with the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.
Los Angeles (44-33) entered Friday holding on to a spot in the play-in tournament, sitting ninth after a successful 5-1 road trip that ended with Wednesday’s 125-120 win over the Washington Wizards.
Securing a guaranteed playoff spot isn’t out of the question, though, as the Lakers are just 1 1/2 games behind the Phoenix Suns, the first team above the play-in line. However, Los Angeles star LeBron James simply is letting the chips fall where they may.
“Our focus is on our next opponent, and not what’s going on in the rankings,” James said. “Those will decide at the end of the season where everybody will be at.
“Our next opponent is Cleveland, but obviously we’re excited to kind of get a day off. … (It will) be great for us to have these two days in between games so we can kind of get our body back acclimated to the West Coast.”
James had 25 points, nine assists and seven rebounds against Washington to back Anthony Davis, who supplied game highs of 35 points and 18 boards. All five Lakers starters scored in double figures, accounting for 113 of Los Angeles’ 125 points.
While Cleveland (46-31) finds itself in a much more favorable position at third in the Eastern Conference, it still has to watch its back.
The Cavaliers were just a half-game ahead of both the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks entering play Friday. Inconsistency has started to plague Cleveland, which has alternated wins and losses over its past seven games.
Much of the up-and-down play has stemmed from the absence of leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, who has played just eight games since the All-Star break due to a nagging knee injury.
Still, Mitchell insists he’ll be good to go come the postseason.
“Just taking it step by step and not getting frustrated. This is a really tight time of year,” Mitchell said. “The best thing for it is rest. But we don’t have time for that.
“Just be myself, continue to build, continue to get better and when the playoffs come, do my thing. I will be ready (for playoffs).”
Cleveland most recently fell 122-101 to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Mitchell played in that one, pouring in 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting, but the Cavaliers coughed up 15 turnovers that translated to 25 Phoenix points.
Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen each added 20 points in the setback.
Opponents have scored an average of 111.8 points while shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from deep over Cleveland’s past five games.
“It starts with containing the basketball with us,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “If we contain the basketball and we don’t have to get into rotation, we eliminate those 3s.”
Saturday marks the conclusion of the two-game season series between the teams. The Lakers beat Cleveland 121-115 back on Nov. 25.
–Field Level Media
