The Lakers' regular season has had so many turns it mirrors the insanely entertaining Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland.
From Kobe Bryant's temper tantrum last summer, to Andrew Bynum's sudden rise and unexpected fall (or dislocation), to Monday's show-stopping overtime victory over the Golden State Warriors, the Lakers are the NBA's version of The Real World. You think you know? But you just don't know.
I guess that happens when you put 12 strangers and have them play on a team for six months. They stop being nice and start being real.
OK. Enough reality TV.
At 49-22, the Lakers are on or near the top of the Western Conference and should stay up on that perch until the end of the regular season. They play nine of their last 11 games at Staples Center and only four of those games are against playoff teams: Washington, Dallas, New Orleans and San Antonio.
The Lakers have a five-game homestand against Charlotte (25-44), Memphis (18-52), Washington (36-33), Portland (37-34) and Dallas (44-26) before heading up to Northern Cali to visit the Kings or...dare I say, the Sacramento Queens. Unless they fall victim to the "trap game," I expect the fellas to be on a seven-game winning streak before they fly to Portland next Tuesday.
New Orleans has the toughest hill to climb as the Hornets have nine road games remaining, including a monster six-game trip. Houston has seven road games left and looks like it has finally come down from its emotional high after winning 22 in a row. The Suns are currently on their toughest road test with games at Boston, Philadelphia and New Jersey.
As long as the Lakers take care of their business, they should not have to worry about battling for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
Keywords: Lakers, Western Conference
