LA Lakers 2024 NBA playoff picture updated following Phoenix Suns loss (February 25): How can they get a top-6 seed?

After losing to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday (Feb. 25) matchup, the LA Lakers are now 31-28 and remain ninth in the Western Conference. They seemed to have found their groove and have bounced back nicely after losing in back-to-back games to the Houston Rockets (Jan. 29) and the Atlanta Hawks (Jan. 30).

They have won seven of their last ten outings since those two straight losses, and are slowly making up ground. Their most recent loss to the Suns hurts their hopes of getting out of the play-in and into a secured playoff spot, but with several more weeks to go, the Lakers still have plenty of chances to make it into the top six.

Ahead of them in the standings right now are the Dallas Mavericks (8th), the New Orleans Pelicans (7th) and the Phoenix Suns (6th) who have 24 losses apiece. The Mavs also have 33 wins, while the Pelicans and the Suns have 34 each. The obvious answer for how they can make the sixth seed in time for the playoffs is to overtake these teams, but how?

To overtake these teams, they must make several adjustments to address some glaring issues. Making buckets isn't a problem for the Lakers, as they are currently fourth in field goal percentage. Even their 37.0% three-point shooting is decent relative to the teams who are doing better than them in this regard.

Grabbing offensive rebounds for easy putbacks and additional chances is one of the things they need to address. They are dead last in the league in both offensive rebounds per game and offensive rebound percentage, which means most of their possessions are one-and-done.

Another aspect where they need to make adjustments is their defense, as they are only 16th in the league in defensive rating. They allow an average of 47.1% of their opponents' FG% and 37.6% from downtown.

They won't be able to acquire players who can help them significantly in these departments, but making a few tweaks to the game plan might pay off.

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The Lakers' defense struggled to contain the Suns' scorers

The LA Lakers lost 123-113 against the Phoenix Suns. LA was outscored 45-28 in the first quarter and they couldn't get out of the hole they dug for themselves in the game's opening frame. They outperformed the Suns in the second and third quarters, but it was not enough to make a comeback.

The Lakers struggled to contain the Suns balanced offense as they allowed four players to score 20 or more, led by Grayson Allen's 24. The other three are Kevin Durant (22), Devin Booker (21) and Royce O'Neale (20). Jusuf Nurkic and Bol Bol were also huge on offense, scoring 18 and 11 respectively.

The Lakers struggled to defend against an offense that seemed to be coming from everywhere and they seemed to have been stunned by O'Neale, who was the biggest positive for the Suns as they outscored their opponents by 22 points when he was on the court.