}
Monday, April 26, 2021, 4:00 PM PDT
Amway Center - Orlando, FL
Referees: Marc Davis (#8), Natalie Sago (#9), Robert Hussey (#85)
Replay Center: Matt Myers, Phenizee Ransom, Mousa Dagher, Evan Scott, Simone Jelks
Line: Mavericks -10.0
O/U: 209.5
National TV: NBA League Pass only
Local TV: Spectrum SportsNet
GAME PREVIEW: LAKERS AT MAGIC: Not a must-win, but close to it
by Christian Rivas, @RadRivas, silverscreenandroll.com
The NBA Playoffs start in less than a month and the Los Angeles Lakers are still in the process of figuring things out: with injuries, their team chemistry and their rotations. All the while, they’re to avoid falling into one of the dreaded play-in spots.
The Lakers lost some ground in the standings with back-to-back losses to the Dallas Mavericks, but they have a chance to bounce back against the Orlando Magic on Monday.
The Magic, who traded All-Star center Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline, are in the midst of a five-game losing streak. The Lakers have a losing streak of their own going but, unlike the Mavericks, there isn’t a player on the Magic that can give them any real trouble. Sorry, Dwayne Bacon.
It’s hard to call any regular season game a must-win for the Lakers knowing that LeBron James will likely be back for the postseason and make all of the points about the team’s struggles moot, but there’s no denying that a loss to the Magic would put Los Angeles in a less-than-ideal situation when it comes to seeding.
There are three games separating the No. 5 seed Lakers from the No. 7 seed Portland Trail Blazers, but there are just 1.5 games separating the Lakers from the No. 6 seed Mavericks. Finishing at the No. 6 seed would almost guarantee that they play the Utah Jazz, LA Clippers or Phoenix Suns in the first round.
Again, it might not matter because of the talent of the Lakers’ superstar duo, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Notes and Updates
- LeBron James (right ankle sprain) and Jared Dudley (right MCL tear) are out.
- Dennis Schröder (left calf soreness) is questionable.
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (right ankle sprain), Anthony Davis (right calf strain) and Marc Gasol (volar plate fracture, left pinkie finger) are probable.
https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/202 ... me-preview
It's ok - baseball is just getting started and LeBron's return should (fingers crossed) be the straw that stirs our drink into the playoffs. This might be a 1988 kind of battle to defend our title - the West is stronger than last year and our blood is in their shark tank. Hopefully LeBron and AD can play like Magic, Worthy and Kareem and the rest of our squad can resemble Byron, Coop, A.C., Mychal and Kurt. It's great to be on top but it's a thrill to be thought of as underdogs as well. We have the hungriest champion since Kobe, MJ and Magic on our squad so nobody better count us out.
