The Lakers wrapped up their daunting stretch of six games and eight days with a 3-3 record. They split a pair of games against the Nuggets, their most important foe during that span, and effectively secured the tiebreaker against them as a result.
Now, they can move forward into the final weeks of the regular season with some big games ahead of them. But they’re not alone in having some games that are going to change the landscape of the standings as there’s a pretty important one on Sunday.
Here are where things stand heading into the weekend:
2. Rockets — 45-25
3. Nuggets — 44-26, 1 GB
4. Lakers — 43-26, 1.5 GB
5. Grizzlies — 43.27 — 2 GB
Let’s take a look at the big games to watch and who you should be rooting for.
Friday
Rockets at Heat — The team in the NBA with the worst net rating this season is the Wizards at -11.6. That means, per 100 possessions, the Wizards are outscored by just shy of 12 points.
I give you that context so you can understand this stat. Since the trade deadline, the Heat have a fourth-quarter net rating of -27.3. That’s astoundingly bad. Don’t count on them in this one.
Nuggets at Blazers — After a five-game losing streak looked to have returned the Blazers, they’ve won three in a row again. Admittedly, the first two of those were against the Raptors and Wizards, but the most recent win was over Memphis.
If Denver is still without Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, this could be an interesting game.
Sunday
Nuggets at Rockets — After no games of consequence on Saturday, there’s a big one on Sunday. I would venture to guess Joker and Murray will be back for this, considering it’s importance.
The Lakers have already clinched the tiebreaker over the Nuggets. They’ve yet to determine the tiebreaker with Houston. Therefore, I’d say to root for Houston in this one to drop the Nuggets back down, and hopefully below, LA and let the Lakers take care of business with regards to the Rockets down the line.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at@JacobRude or on Bluesky at@jacobrude.bsky.social.