LeBron James
Photo: Los Angeles Lakers/YouTube

It is more and more likely that for the second straight season the Lakers will have to fight for a playoff spot in the play-in tournament.

That is, of course, if Los Angeles does not drop below the tenth place in the Western Conference, which is now quite possible because the gap between them and eleventh-placed Portland is very narrow.

According to LeBron James, now is not the time to think about the play-in tournament because the team has just lost three games in a row and needs to at least win one game.

“We win games to get us in [the play-in tournament], we’re gonna prepare, we’ll be ready. But we got to try to win one basketball game right now,” the four-time NBA champion said after the Dallas game.

“That’s what we’re really trying to… how we can figure out to get over the hump and with injuries. We played nine guys but it really was eight. I think Dwight played four minutes, Baze gave us some great minutes, his 17 minutes was great. But we really only played seven guys.

“We’re just trying to figure out a way how we can get over the hump. We play some good basketball today, like I said, for about the whole third quarter was great.

“We didn’t play to our abilities in the second giving up 41 but overall I thought we played a good game, just gotta get over the hump. But as far as play-in, I mean can’t really think about that right now. Just gotta figure out how you can get a dub.”