The Los Angeles Lakers officially clinched the third seed in the Western Conference on Friday with a 140-109 victory over a very short-handed Houston Rockets squad. They will play their final regular-season game on Sunday versus the Portland Trail Blazers, but the outcome of that game will be mostly inconsequential, especially since they will likely rest at least a few of their starters.
It is time to start imagining the possibilities of this year's playoffs for the Lakers with Luka Doncic, a less burdened LeBron James and the blossoming Austin Reaves.