With 10 games remaining, the Los Angeles Lakers are outside the Western Conference play-in tournament race, and each loss feels like a double blow because of the small group of contenders.
The Lakers entered Tuesday’s play in eleventh spot in the West and will hope to take a vertical action when they have the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles is one of nine teams that are separated by a total of four games, led by the Suns (38-33) in fourth place in the West. Los Angeles is 35-37.
The Lakers will play Phoenix in the third game of a five-game homestand. Following that is a five-game road trip, making each Los Angeles home game extremely significant.
The Lakers split their first two games, losing to the Dallas Mavericks on a last-second 3-pointer before coming back to beat the Orlando Magic 111-105 on Sunday.
Against Orlando, the man known as “Hillbilly Kobe” saved the day. Austin Reaves scored a career-high 35 points, 13 of which came in the fourth.
The second-year undrafted player from an unassuming community in Arkansas was floored by getting “MVP, MVP” drones at the free-toss line.
Over the past three games, Reaves has been averaging 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists at a time when the Lakers needed someone to step up in the absence of LeBron James (foot).
The Phoenix Suns were hoping to tie Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies for second place in the West. However, Phoenix is currently attempting to stay ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers, who are currently in fifth place, after losing four of their last five games.
As they prepare for the middle game of a three-game road trip, the Suns led the Clippers by half a game heading into Tuesday. After giving up a 15-point lead, Phoenix lost the first game 124-120 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.
The Suns are still without Kevin Durant (ankle), and big man Deandre Ayton missed the game against Oklahoma City because of a hip injury.
Against the Thunder, Devin Booker scored 46 points on 18-of-28 shooting. Booker has scored more than 40 points seven times this season, is averaging 34.1 points per game and shooting 57.4% from the field in nine March games.
After missing 25 games in a row due to a left foot injury, backup guard Landry Shamet played in Oklahoma City and scored 10 points in 20 minutes. Shamet missed all four 3-point attempts.
Phoenix has won the last six meetings with the Lakers, going 2-0 against them this season. James didn’t play in any of the games this season.
On November 22, despite Anthony Davis’ monster performance of 37 points and 21 rebounds, the Suns prevailed 115-105 at home. When Davis and Booker joined James on the sidelines, Phoenix also won 130-104 at home on December 19.
