The 15-16 Los Angeles Lakers are currently seeded 11th in the Western Conference and a game out of the playoffs, but if and when they do earn that postseason berth, they have the ability to beat any team in the loaded West.
If the Lakers are to fulfill their preseason and annual expectations of winning the NBA Finals, we are forced to assume that they are able to get and/or stay healthy (Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash), find better bench depth, and find some semblance of defense.
There is still over half a season left so many of these issues can sort themselves out throughout the course of the season. However, we must take into account the realistic seeding of the Western Conference and conversely, the opponents they will face.
It is more likely that the Lakers, at this point in the season and nearly ten games behind the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder, will finish in the bottom half of the standings rather than the top half. This makes it more likely they play powerhouse teams like the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies.
If we were to make a case as to which teams the Lakers could defeat in a playoff series, the list would run the names of all the teams in the NBA. However, it is much harder to gauge which teams they would quickly defeat in a short series.
Even so, the Lakers with all their struggles and drama have the overall talent and gained chemistry through an entire season to take care of several teams in the playoff hunt.
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers last postseason in a very hard-fought seven-game series but return a very different team now that they've traded for Andre Iguodala.
With the Denver Nuggets playing the majority of the rest of their games at home and the Lakers likely to squeeze into the bottom three spots ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
