The Los Angeles Lakers will close out their season on Tuesday the same way they started it in October: against Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. However, unlike the start of the season, playoffs are the farthest thing from L.A.’s mind, at least for now.
Last month, the Lakers were officially eliminated from playoff contention, extending their playoff drought to six years and ending LeBron James’ impressive 13-year playoff streak, which is the second-longest active playoff streak behind Tony Parker. Despite this, the Lakers haven’t stopped trying to improve their win total, going 6-3 since being eliminated from the playoffs.