The Lakers have the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference as of the moment. They might actually be able to keep it given how well they’re playing and how light the rest of the schedule is (17 games left at Staples, nine elsewhere), although San Antonio will absolutely be a factor.
How many games will the 39-17 Lakers wind up winning? I’ll take a stab: How about 61?
Post your projection here and/or vote in our SoCal Sports Now poll about how many the Lakers will win.
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Posted in: 2007-08 |
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February 25th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I’ll go with 60-22. The addition of Gasol has turned this team from a potential 50 win team to a 60 win team. Because he can play 12 to 15 feet from the basket with consistency,this leaves cutters like Lamar more space to cut to the basket and one of the reasons Lamar is playing so well right now. With Kwame, nobody was going to double team him,so even if Lamar cut, there was a lot of traffic in the lanes.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I think 59. although 61 doesn’t seem out of the question.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
It’s a tough question because there are so many factors other than just winning to consider.
If they keep playing like this and other factors were not involved, then I can see them losing only 3 or 4 more games and ending up with 61 or 62 wins for the season.
However, for example, what if all the other West teams beat each other up and Lakers can wrap up the West’s No. 1 seed with 4 or 5 games left. (Unlikely but possible.) Then the Lakers’ desire to win-out would not be as important as the desire to rest key players and keep them healthy. In other words, without the incentive to fight for the No. 1 spot, they may lose a few games at the end of the season, causing them to end up with less than 60 wins.
Also, we still don’t know how Bynum will play together with Gasol, and vice versa. Given Gasol’s versatility, I think they will eventually play well but it may take up to a half-dozen games for them to figure things out. Thus, depending on when Bynum comes back and how quickly the coaching staff wants to get Bynum integrated into the currently-hot team, the Lakers may struggle for a few games.
My guess is that the race in the West for the No. 1 seed will go down to the wire, and thus the Lakers will continue to have the incentive to pretty much win at all costs. However, I think they will lose a couple of games they shouldn’t because they will want to get Bynum re-integrated sooner than later so that they are peaking right before the playoffs. In other words, the coaching staff might sacrifice a couple of wins in the regular season in order to be in top shape as soon as the playoffs start.
Nevertheless, they should lose no more than 6 out of the last 26, giving them a record of 59-23, which is the same as the prediction by confusedindianguy.
February 26th, 2008 at 8:11 am
I read another article that predicted a 34-season-ending winning streak. Where would that take the the might Lakers of 07-08
February 26th, 2008 at 10:02 am
If this were all about talent, record and potential then I’d say 61 is probably safe. However, Coach Jackson has a history of using teaching moments and that even means losing a game here or there if needed. I think it is safe to say though that the team would prefer to have home court for as long as possible and since this is a young team, believing that they can win out, can dominate since the arrival of Pau - kind of like he is that feather that Dumbo had that made him believe he could fly - that might be as useful as anything else that Jackson can think up. On the other hand, he may decided that the most important thing is to throw Bynum and Ariza out there when they return and win or lose let the team sort things out before the playoffs when it really counts. That is what I would do.
So, now that I’ve made a simple question a complicated answer, I’d still say yeah to 61.