It’s hard to blame the Lakers for entertaining the possibility of punting their match against the Thunder on Wednesday. The injury report heading into their road outing lists just about all their vital cogs, providing the brain trust with ample leeway to make a decision on their active roster closer to tipoff. Rui Hachimura will definitely be sidelined due to left patellar tendinopathy, while LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Gabe Vincent are listed as “questionable” for a variety of reasons.
Certainly, the Lakers are looking at their second set-to versus the Thunder in three days with a one-step-back-two-steps-forward mindset. Their immediate past victory, juxtaposed with losses by the Nuggets and Warriors, gives them some breathing room insofar as securing the third spot in the West is concerned. And because they have the cushion, they can inject strategy into their schedule — especially since the injury report of the preemptive conference top seeds indicates the availability of a complete lineup.
Perhaps the Lakers would be predisposed to taking the full measure of the Thunder on Wednesday were they not likewise slated to meet the Mavericks on Thursday. And, make no mistake, the encounter with the latter is one they truly want to win. The 23-and-a-half-hour turnaround between contests all but places an either-or situation on the table, and the bias is clear given Dončić’s impending return to the American Airlines Center for the first time since the very franchise that picked him third overall in the 2018 draft let him go in a trade deadline shocker.
True, the conference is so bunched up that the Lakers are taking no small measure of risk by entertaining the notion of resting today. That said, they may deem it a no-brainer all the same in the face of their advantage; they need only prevail in two of their last four stops to claim the third seed, with one of those four against the lowly Blazers. In any case, it bears noting that the purple and gold do not have losing records against the rest of the West’s Top 10. In other words, they’ll be ready any which way when the playoffs arrive — but are no less motivated to avail of the opportunity to tilt the odds in their favor en route.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
