After the 2014/15 NBA regular season schedules where released last week, we learned that the Los Angeles Lakers will start of their campaign against the Houston Rockets on October 28th, 2014. This game looks like a tough start for the LA Lakers and has fans judging the schedule. After last season’s disappointing results many are currently doubting the team’s chances of reaching this year’s NBA playoffs.
New coach in Byron Scott has yet to comment on his team’s chance of making the playoffs this year, but has stated that he expects some of his key players to step up their production and this will help the team be more successful than they were in 2013-14.
“Kobe, even probably with one leg, can average 20 something points a game. And I think that’s very realistic. And I think he’ll do something like that probably five rebounds and five assists a night as well”. Byron Scott said in an interview with Yahoo Sports the Post Game.
The LA Lakers faithful believe that this season will be a rebuilding campaign for the franchise. The western conference is proving to be incredibly strong in recent years and getting wins against the tough opposition has proven to be a struggle for rebuilding teams. This is especially true of a team like the Lakers, who are going to need a lot of work as we head into the new season.
There are still a few teams in the western conference that the LA Lakers can beat or at least compete against on a nightly basis, but having gone 27-55 last season there will need to be a huge improvement if they are going to make it back to the playoffs. One has to wonder if simply having a healthy Kobe Bryant will be enough, especially with the Lakers losing Pau Gasol to free agency.
The team has made some slight improvements over the off-season such as trading for Jeremy Lin who is likely to be the starting point guard and adding NBA veteran Carlos Boozer via Amnesty Waivers, and power forward Ed Davis in free agency. The team was also able to re-sign small forward Nick Young. The Lakers also drafted promising power forward Julius Randle out of Kentucky, and there is talk that he may even be a day 1 starter for the club. Between Boozer, Davis, and Randle the Lakers hope to improve the play of the team’s front court even without Gasol.
Overall the Lakers may be improved enough to win upwards of 41 games this season, but in the tough Western Conference, a .500 record is highly unlikely to be good enough to make the playoffs. They will need to continue to improve and get some production from unlikely sources or will find that the Clippers are the only Los Angeles basketball team in the NBA playoffs once again.
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