- The Los Angeles Lakers’ odds to make the Playoffs have plunged to +200 in the aftermath of LeBron James’ latest injury.
- Los Angeles had improved to -115 to make the Playoffs after winning four out of their last five games before Tuesday’s date with the Memphis Grizzlies.
- James is expected to miss more than the two weeks.
The Los Angeles Lakers saw their Playoff hopes drop after LeBron James suffered a foot injury during Sunday’s comeback win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Los Angeles entered the All-Star break with -200 odds NOT to make the Playoffs but saw their chances improve to -115 to make the Playoffs after winning three out of their first four games after the break. Those odds are no more.
Last Sunday, the Lakers became the first team this season to rally from a deficit of at least 27 points to win the game. Prior to their game against the Mavs, NBA teams were 0-138 when trailing by 27+ points this season.
That victory also marked the Lakers’ largest deficit overcome in a come-from-behind win since 2002. However, it also came at a cost as LeBron James suffered a concerning foot injury.
According to BetOnline, the Lakers’ odds to make the Playoffs have dropped to +200 following LeBron’s injury, while their odds NOT to make the postseason are now listed at -280.
LeBron appears to limp post game following foot injury
(via @townbrad)pic.twitter.com/2kXbRfvSSL
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 27, 2023
LeBron Limps Post-Game
James fell to the floor and clutched his fright foot in pain during the third quarter of the game against the Mavericks. James told reporters after the contest that he thought he stepped on Dallas’ Dwight Powell’s foot and heard a pop. On replay, it appeared that it was a non-contact injury. He was seen leaving the arena with a noticeable limp.
Initially, the Lakers announced that James would miss Tuesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies with a sore right foot. Later, they revealed that James could miss at least two weeks with a right foot injury.
Before Tuesday’s game against the Grizzlies, the team reported that they expect to reassess James after two weeks, but his return is “expected to go beyond that timeline”.
Essentially, the Lakers are saying that LeBron is out indefinitely. Head coach Darvin Ham was asked about the possibility of James missing the rest of the season and his reply was:
“I don’t want to speculate or jump to conclusions about anything, we’ll let our medical people do their due diligence and go through the process with that. But I’ll tell you this: As an organization, we’re going to make sure we kick the tires on everything and look at everything that needs to be looked at because never in a hundred, million years would we put a guy out there that has a risk of further damaging whatever is going on.”
Without saying it flat out, the possibility of shutting down LeBron James exists for the Lakers. The Lakers are 5-9 SU without LeBron James this season. They are also 36-62 all-time when playing without their King.
James said at the 2023 All-Star break that the Lakers’ final 23 regular season games are the most important of his career, in a regular season. Unfortunately, it appears that James could miss the majority of those contests.
Ja’s franchise-record 28-point 3rd quarter propels the Grizz over the Lakers 🐻🔥 pic.twitter.com/9myXMHUIIW
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 1, 2023
Ja and the Grizzlies Down Lakers in Memphis
On Tuesday night, the Lakers began their life without King James with a 109-121 loss to the Grizzlies in Memphis. The Grizz blew open a close game with Ja Morant scoring a franchise-record 28 points in the third quarter as the Grizzlies put up 47 points during that same time frame.
The loss snapped the Lakers’ three-game winning streak and pulled their record down to 29-33 SU, 12th in the latest Western Conference team standings. It also came one day after ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said that the Lakers were targeting to play the inexperienced Sacramento Kings in the opening round of the Playoffs.
Despite the loss, the Lakers remain within striking distance of their goal of not only entering the Top 10 but of moving to 6th place and booking a possible date with the 3rd place Kings in the Playoffs.
Los Angeles is currently just one game behind the 10th-seeded New Orleans Pelicans and entry in the Play-In Tournament. The Lakers are also 2.5 games behind the 31-30 Golden State Warriors and outright entry to the Playoffs as the 6th seed in the West.
With 20 regular season games left to play, there are still more than enough games for the Lakers to catch up. According to Tankathon, the Lakers have the second easiest remaining schedule in the league, with their remaining opponents having a combined winning percentage of .471.
Aside from that, Utah, Sacramento, and Minnesota have three of the five toughest remaining schedules while Golden State, Portland, Phoenix, and the L.A. Clippers have Top 10 toughest schedules.
Given that 7 of the teams that are ahead of the Lakers in the team standings have much tougher schedules, the Lakers entering via the back door is a real possibility.
ESPN’s Playoff Index currently gives the Lakers a 44.3% chance of making the Playoffs, the 8th best among Western Conference teams. However, The Ringer’s NBA Odds Machine isn’t as optimistic.
