Lakers vs. Sixers Preview and Game Thread: Is the Lakers’ fate sealed at the ninth seed?

Ahead of Friday’s clash with the Sixers, claiming the sixth seed is not out of the realm of possibility but it’s also not in the Lakers’ control.

After a mini three-day break, the Lakers are back at it at home against the Philadelphia 76ers. This will be the last time these two teams will go at it this season as Los Angeles looks to split the season series on Friday.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers

When: 7:30 p.m. PT, Mar 22

Where: Crypto.com Arena

Watch: Spectrum Sportsnet, NBA TV

The Lakers enter Friday’s game against the Sixers as winners of six of their last 10 games. They may have survived one of their toughest stretches in their schedule this season but since they’re not winning enough, Los Angeles remains in the ninth seed, just a game above the Warriors who currently have the tie-breaker against them.

With 13 games to go, it’s safe to assume that the Lakers will be in the play-in tournament for the third time in four years. Technically, claiming the sixth seed this season is not out of the question, but that would mean hoping the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, and Phoenix Suns somehow cough up some games.

However, where it gets challenging for the Lakers is the fact that they don’t really have the tiebreaker against most teams in the Western Conference. They currently only do against the Suns, Thunder and Clippers. They didn’t get a single game against the Kings this season and they only won once against the Dallas Mavericks.

Since they also lost to Golden State last Saturday, they currently don’t have the tiebreaker against them. So at this point, L.A. can only hope to win its games while teams above and below it continue to lose.

Perhaps the most ideal scenario, aside from avoiding the play-in tournament, is for the Lakers to claim the seventh or eighth seed. That way, they’ll only have to win one play-in game in order to advance to the playoffs. There’s a good chance they can still do that considering that the Suns have an extremely tough schedule ahead while both the Mavs and Kings remain inconsistent.

But at the end of the day, it still all boils down to the Lakers having to win most of their games. With them getting more rest than usual over the last two weeks, they should be rejuvenated to finish the season strong — no matter what they end up. That starts against the Sixers on Friday:

The Joel Embiid-less Sixers

The Lakers will surely be favored in this matchup because of talent, but the Sixers are still a respectable team even without Joel Embiid. They’re seven games above .500, are very well-coached and have a special player in Tyrese Maxey, who is averaging 25.7 points and 6.2 assists a game this season. Maxey has really carried the Sixers this season without the reigning MVP and it won’t be a surprise to see him impose problems for the Lakers’ guards.

Like the Lakers, Philadelphia’s offense has been trending up but they actually play better defense compared to the purple and gold. Even without Embiid, they get production out of Maxey, Tobias Harris, Kelly Oubre Jr, Buddy Hield and even Kyle Lowry. So the Lakers shouldn’t expect them to bow down early like the Atlanta Hawks did last game. This Sixers team is also aiming to get out of the play-in tournament, so expect them to put up a strong fight against L.A. on Friday.

It would be nice if the Lakers’ offense, which has actually been good for a while, carried them in this one. The Sixers don’t have the frontcourt pieces to stop Anthony Davis, so this should be a game for him to dominate. If the Lakers’ guards don’t freeze in this one while AD and LeBron James carry over their impressive play from the last game then this one should be a W for the purple and gold.

Let’s see if there’s still hope for the Lakers to improve their record and climb their way up in the standings on Friday.

Notes and Updates:

• D’Angelo Russell is expected to break the Lakers’ single-season 3-point record on Friday. He has made 183 3-pointers this season and with one more, he will dethrone Nick Van Exel as the Lakers’ single-season franchise leader.
• Before heading to the three-day break. Darvin Ham stated that the team will add “new wrinkles” to their playbook during practice this week. This is something worth keeping track of moving forward as they gear up for the final stretch.
• For the Lakers’ injury report, Anthony Davis (bilateral Achilles tendinopathy) is probable. LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) is questionable while Christian Wood (left knee effusion), Gabe Vincent (left knee surgery), Jarred Vanderbilt (right midfoot sprain), Jalen Hood-Schfino (back disc surgery) and Collin Castleton (right wrist fracture) are all out.
• As for the Sixers, Joel Embiid (left knee meniscus procedure), Robert Covington (left knee bone bruise), De’Anthony Melton (back lumbar spine) and Kai Jones (right hamstring strain) are out. Tobias Harris (right ankle sprain) is questionable.

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani