The Lakers are no strangers to play-in tournaments.
In 2021, Los Angeles defeated Golden State in the first round of the tournament to earn the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Two years later, the Lakers once again earned the No. 7 seed, this time defeating the Timberwolves.
The Lakers still have a chance to finish the 2023-24 season with a top-six record, but it seems increasingly likely that they will have to compete again in the play-in tournament for a spot in the playoffs.
Here's everything you need to know about the Lakers' playoff chances in the final week of the season.
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Updated Western Conference Standings
The Lakers have the ninth-best record in the Western Conference at 40-32. They currently lead the 10th place Warriors by 1.5 games and trail the 8th place Suns by 2 games.
Full photos from the Western Conference playoffs can be seen below.
Records up to Tuesday, March 26th
| rank | team | record | GB |
| 1 | nugget | 51-21 | — |
| 2 | Thunder | 50-21 | 0.5 |
| 3 | Timberwolves | 49-22 | 1.5 |
| Four | clippers | 44-27 | 6.5 |
| Five | pelicans | 44-28 | 7 |
| 6 | Mavericks | 43-29 | 8 |
| 7 | kings | 42-30 | 9 |
| 8 | sans | 42-30 | 9 |
| 9 | lakers | 40-32 | 11 |
| Ten | warriors | 37-34 | 13.5 |
| — | rocket | 36-35 | 14.5 |
Lakers remaining schedule
The Lakers have 10 games left in the season, seven of which are on the road.
Los Angeles has the sixth-easiest schedule in the NBA, according to Tankason, who calculates the combined win percentage of the team's remaining opponents. The strength of Tankasson's schedule does not take into account where the games are played.
Four of the Lakers' next five games will be against teams with losing records, with the exception of the Pacers.
That's good news for Los Angeles. Tankathon said Phoenix has the toughest remaining schedule. The Suns have 10 games left in the season for him, all of which are only against teams with winning records.
The rest of the Lakers' 2023-24 season schedule can be viewed below.
| date | Opponent | Time (ET) | tv channels |
| March 27th | with the grizzlies | 8pm | — |
| March 29th | at the pacers | 7pm | — |
| March 31st | with the nets | 6 pm | — |
| April 2 | with the raptors | 7pm | — |
| April 3 | at wizards | 7pm | — |
| April 6 | vs. Cavaliers | 3:30pm | — |
| April 7th | vs. Timberwolves | 10pm | — |
| April 9th | vs Warriors | 10pm | — |
| April 12 | with the grizzlies | 8pm | — |
| April 14th | at the pelicans | 3:30pm | — |
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Lakers NBA Playoffs and Play-In Tournament Predictions
As of March 27, the Lakers are 41.5% probability of making the playoffsAccording to Basketball-Reference's playoff odds report.
Based on Basketball Reference's simulations, the most likely outcome for the Lakers is to finish the regular season as the No. 9 seed (35.2 percent chance) and earn the No. 8 seed in the NBA Playoffs through the play-in tournament (20.4 percent chance). That's it. .
Ringer goes to the Lakers 95% chance of making it to the play-in tournament and 39% chance of making the playoffs.
