In a typical NBA campaign, winning 47 times to finish 12 games over .500 (.573) accounts for an impressive regular season, representing a good shot to finish in the top four, and secure home-court advantage for Round 1 of the playoffs.
In 2022-23, such a record would have been good for No. 4 … but the 2023-24 Western Conference featured an absolute gauntlet of good teams, and 47 Lakers wins secured only No. 8. That turned into the No. 7 seed for head coach Darvin Ham’s team in his second season with the franchise after a road play-in victory at New Orleans.
As such, LAL ended up with the No. 2-seeded Denver Nuggets in Round 1 of the playoffs, which ultimately resulted in a highly competitive, but disappointing 4-1 series loss to the defending champions.
The Lakers held a lead over the Nuggets for around 70% of the series, typically jumping on Nikola Jokic and Co. early and carrying leads into the fourth quarter, only to drop Games 2 and 5 in Denver in the same heartbreaking fashion: Jamal Murray capping Nuggets comebacks with game-winning shots in the final seconds.
A few months prior to April’s conclusion, the Lakers did manage to break new NBA ground by winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament, dominating their group play in the Western Conference before defeating Phoenix in the quarterfinals, New Orleans in the semis and ultimately Indiana in the final to claim a banner that will be a mainstay of increasing importance as the years go by.
L.A.’s pair of All-Stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, engaged their past playoff experience to lead their teammates through that run in November and December, and both were named to the All-Tournament Team, with LeBron the MVP.
