3 goals for the Los Angeles Lakers after the All-Star break
The Los Angeles Lakers have cemented their Western Conference dominance through a couple of generational superstars as well as collective on-court chemistry. They are leading the West with an ultra-impressive 43-12 win-loss record at the moment, and are surefire contenders to lift the NBA title this season.
The Lakers are five games ahead of second seed Denver Nuggets, and carry a comfortable 6.5 game cushion over their third seed rivals Los Angeles Clippers. It's safe to say that this squad has found its groove and knows how to win on a consistent basis.
Uncharacteristic contributions from reserves like Alex Caruso, Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard have really helped this team separate their ceiling from the rest of the pack.
While the indomitable Lakers spirit is gaining serious momentum for the postseason, they still have 25+ regular season games to run through. On that note, let's mark up three goals for this LA unit in this final stretch of the 2019-20 regular season.
#1 Winning 65 regular-season games
The last time Lakers won 60+ games was back in the 2008-09 regular season, when they ended up beating Orlando Magic 4-1 in the Finals as well. Led by Kobe Bryant, that squad posted a 65-17 regular season record on its way to an NBA championship.
The current Lakers edition is at 43 wins, with 27 matchups left to go. In order to register a humongous total of 65 wins, the purple-and-gold need to go at least 22-5 during this final stretch.
Their task will be made a little simpler by the fact that they have the 10th easiest remaining schedule of all teams in the league. Moreover, there have been no signs of load management on the team's part yet.
Team effort, focus on defense and sharp transition offense have been the keys for LA all year long, and the same should suffice for these last few games. Considering the drive and vigor with which this squad is attacking each and every game, a 65-win season seems a very strong possibility.