Lakers Inch Closer to Playoff Spot
The Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night in what might be a first round Western Conference playoff preview. The Lakers at 30-30 inched a bit closer to the playoffs after the Utah Jazz lost an overtime heart-breaker 109-108 to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night and fell to 32-28. The Houston Rockets are now in the seventh position at 33-28.
A look at the week ahead for the three teams:
Los Angeles Lakers- Tuesday at OKC, Wednesday at the New Orleans Hornets, Friday vs the Toronto Raptors at home, Sunday at home vs the Chicago Bulls.
Utah Jazz- Wednesday at the Cleveland Cavaliers, Friday at the Chicago Bulls, Saturday at the New York Knicks,
Houston Rockets- Wednesday at the Dallas Mavericks, Friday at the Golden state Warriors, Saturday at the Phoenix Suns.
A lot of road games between the three teams this week could be interesting. The Thunder will be a tough road game for the Lakers to try and get over the .500 mark. They shouldn’t sleep on the Hornets the next game either. The Raptors at home should be a win, but the Bulls on Sunday could be a tough one.
The Jazz have two tough ones with the Bulls and the Knicks, so they had better beat the Cavaliers. The Cavs are not a softie at home as the Knicks learned last night.
The Rockets will face a Mavs team on the road they just embarrassed last time out, the Warriors will be a tough road game as well.
If one of these three get on a roll this week they could stand a chance to gain some ground on the other two.
AT the top of the Conference we have the San Antonio Spurs at 47-14 with the Thunder in second at 43-16. The Los Angeles Clippers are third at 43-19. The Spurs will host the Bulls on Wednesday night, then take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
The Thunder will play the Lakers tonight and then visit the Knicks on Thursday and the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday. They should get at least two of those three.
The Clippers will host the Bucks on Wednesday, then visit the Denver Nuggets on Thursday in a big game, and then host the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
The Memphis Grizzlies are two game behind the Clippers in the fourth spot while the Nuggets are 1.5 behind them for the fifth spot. The Grizzlies will host the Blazers Wednesday, then visit the Cavs on Friday and host the Hornets on Saturday. Those are three they should win easily.
The Nuggets get the Sacramento Kings on the road tonight, then hos the Clippers Thursday, then host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. The Clippers game will be tough, but they should take the other two.
