How can LA Lakers clinch 3rd seed in West after Nuggets and Warriors suffer huge losses? Permutations and combinations explored

The LA Lakers broke free from the crowded Western Conference standings with a dominant victory over the NBA-leading OKC Thunder on Sunday. With the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors both losing, the Lakers boosted their chances of securing the No. 3 seed.

The Lakers improved to 48-40 with the win, marking their best regular-season record since their 2020 championship run. With a .615 win percentage, they moved 1.5 games ahead of the No. 4 Denver Nuggets.

With only a week left in the regular season, the Lakers are in a strong position to clinch the third-best record in the conference, which would guarantee them homecourt advantage in the first round. However, they still have some work to do.

Here’s what the Lakers need to do to secure the No. 3 seed.

How the LA Lakers can clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference

The Lakers have four games remaining and must win three of them to lock in the No. 3 seed.

However, the upcoming schedule won’t be easy. They’ll face the OKC Thunder again on Tuesday, followed by a visit to the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic's former team (and now with Anthony Davis), on Wednesday for the second game of a back-to-back.

Next, they’ll host the red-hot Houston Rockets, who are No. 2 in the West, on April 11, before closing out the regular season on April 13 against the Portland Trail Blazers.

If the Lakers win three of these four games, they’ll reach 51 wins, securing the No. 3 seed since the highest win total any team below them in the standings can reach is 50.

The Lakers are in a strong position as they hold tiebreakers over the Nuggets, LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies, who currently occupy the No. 4 to No. 8 spots in the West.

Even if the Lakers go 2-2 in their final four games, they still have a good shot at the No. 3 seed, unless the Timberwolves and Nuggets both go undefeated in their final games.

If that happens, the Lakers would drop to No. 4 and the Timberwolves would secure the No. 3 seed.

Lakers reporter Mike Trudell outlined this scenario in a tweet:

“If the Lakers go 2-2 in their final 4 games, they're very likely to secure the No. 3 seed, barring one multi-team tiebreaker scenario where MIN finishes 4-0 and DEN 3-0, and MIN gets the No. 3 based on a 6-2 record in that 3-team hypothetical tie, LA No. 4 and DEN No. 5.

According to Tankathon, the Lakers have the third toughest remaining schedule based on opponents' winning percentage. Denver has the sixth toughest, the Clippers have the 14th, the Grizzlies have the 19th, the Warriors have the 20th and the Timberwolves have the 24th.