LOS ANGELES — As Tuesday night’s exercise in downtown L.A. began, the Lakers had a legitimate shot at rising to sixth place in the Western Conference and avoiding the NBA’s play-in rounds altogether.
When it ended, after a 134-120 Golden State victory in which the Warriors shot an unconscious 26 for 41 from 3-point range – including lots of treys from guys you wouldn’t expect them from – the Lakers were in serious jeopardy of finishing 10th and having to win two elimination games on the road just to get into the actual playoffs and a first-round series against the top seed.
Ain’t this system wonderful?
For fans who don’t have a horse in this race, or who relish chaos, it’s fantastic theater. For those who do have a rooting interest among the Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans, the days leading up to Sunday’s end of the regular season could be excruciating.
Which is the point, and the reason that the play-in round – an inspired idea that came out of the 2020 COVID bubble in Orlando – is such a rousing success. You might squirm, but you’ll watch.
“I think the play-in has been great for the league,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before Tuesday’s game. “I think it’s kept more teams engaged. It’s made for some really exciting single-elimination games for the fans to watch.
“And,” he added puckishly, “if it weren’t for the plan this year we would be just about out of things. So I liked it before when it didn’t benefit us, but I really like it now.”
Laker fans will be agonizing through their team’s final scheduled games: Friday night at Memphis (a draft lottery-bound team against which L.A. has won two of its previous three) and Sunday at New Orleans (which moved ahead of Phoenix into the No. 6 spot on Tuesday night, but has also lost two of three to the Lakers).
The distance between the ecstasy of avoiding the play-in zone and the agony of being the 10th…
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