This is when losing at the beginning of the season is costly. The Los Angeles Lakers are now in ninth place following the Utah Jazz's victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday. With a 103-90 win, the Jazz recovered the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference as we move closer to having less than a month of regular season basketball before the postseason kicks in.
Both the Lakers and the Jazz have the same record at 33-31. However, the Lakers dropped two out of the three games against the Jazz. So Utah is in possession of the tiebreaker. The teams will not meet again before the season concludes.
This is bad news for the Lakers because if their records stay tied, then the Jazz will win the eighth seed, bumping the Lakers out of the playoffs. Back in November, the Jazz won these two team's first meeting and followed up with another win just a month later.
Now, though both teams are fighting for the last spot, things aren't took bad for the Lakers and Jazz as they have a chance of claiming the sixth spot, if they can outperform and have the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors struggle. The Rockets are just one game from the Lakers and Jazz, while the Warriors are scuffling in the sixth spot with a 2.5 game lead over the Lakers and Jazz.
If any of these teams slip up, then the Lakers or Jazz can make their moves and try moving up in the standings.
The Lakers are scaring the rest of the NBA as they have come from behind in a couple of close games. Most recently, they defeated the Toronto Raptors and Kobe Bryant sealed the deal with a slam dunk.
Bryant continues to play at a high level, despite being 34 years old and has stated that he wants another championship. Vino wants to prove that when a wine bottle ages, the content is even better and more pricey.
The Lakers and Jazz don't meet up the rest of the season, therefore, but teams will have to slug it out with no chance of gaining a complete game over each other in a head-to-head matchup.
Check out who we have taking the eighth seed when it's all said and done.
