Nearing the Climax: Can the Injury-Plagued Lakers Hang On?

We're six weeks away from the end of the 2020-2021 National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season, and the playoff picture is shaping up, particularly in the stacked Western Conference.

Standing atop the Western Conference are the Utah Jazz with a league-best 38-12 win-loss card. The Phoenix Suns continue their rise while the Los Angeles Clippers are the better team from Los Angeles. The Denver Nuggets are surging back thanks to Nikola Jokic's Most Valuable Player (MVP) numbers.

Where are the Los Angeles Lakers?

The defending champions have been on a slump as of late that dropped them down to fifth place in the West with a 30-19 slate.

After lording over the Western Conference during the early parts of the season, the injuries that hit Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Wesley Matthews, Alex Caruso, and most recently, newcomer Andre Drummond have the Purple and Gold limping in games.

The Lakers have lost six of their last ten games- including a 104-86 loss against the Clippers on Monday early morning (Manila time). The team has been playing without LeBron James since that 99-94 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, and reports say that the timeline for LeBron's return isn't changing.

Neither is the timeline for Anthony Davis' return.

In the words of Coach Frank Vogel, Anthony Davis is still "ways away" from returning.

The question is: Do the Lakers have enough gas to go for a back-to-back?

It boils down to the pieces that they will have until the end of the regular season and what kind of a team they will have once the playoffs start. And if the rest of the team will be able to hold the fort down until LeBron James and the rest of the team's stars return.

The Lakers will play against the Jazz twice as part of the final stretch of their schedule. The Lakers will also have games against the Clippers, the Suns, and the Easter-leading Brooklyn Nets. All of the mentioned opponents combine for a 52% winning percentage.

Right now, the Lakers are in danger of needing to participate in a play-in tournament between the West's 10th to 7th spots to secure a playoff berth. The team is just two and a half games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks, who are in the seventh spot. That's the last thing an injury-plagued squad would want to face with all of their championship aspirations this year.

The Lakers are still a playoff-bound team. It's just now the question of what position they start come playoff time.

Photo is from the Los Angeles Times