Playoffs?!? They’re talking playoffs?!?
At 6-4, the Lakers are currently tied for the six seed in the West with Portland. Just 10 games into the season it’s a “Hillary can’t lose” level prognostication mistake to say Los Angeles is a lock, but with Memphis, Denver, Sacramento, Dallas, and Minnesota stumbling out of the gate, is it time for the Lakers to start dreaming of the playoffs?
Nick Young told Mark Medina of the Orange County Register the team thinks they can make it.“We think we could, for sure,” Lakers forward Nick Young said. “If we continue to play how we’ve been playing…..”
Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson then interrupted Young and asked about the subject matter. After Young caught Clarkson up to speed, the two playfully chastised a reporter for bringing up the topic.
“It’s not nice. You put pressure on these young guys,” Young said. “Now we have to make the playoffs when you said [before] we were the last team in the world.”
First, you have to love the chemistry on this team right now — they like each other and are having fun on and off the court, and it shows.
Can the Lakers sustain this? I don’t doubt they could have an offense around the top 10 (currently ninth), the question is will their middle-of-the-pack defense remain at that level? Will the young team hold up physically and not have excessive mental lapses? Can Young keep playing like this?
The Lakers look like a team that will be in the mix for a playoff spot, which before the season started seemed a wild long shot.