Who do the LA Lakers play next? Team, schedule, and more

The LA Lakers' opponents in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs will be either the Golden State Warriors or the Sacramento Kings. The Kings forced a do-or-die Game 7 with their 118-99 victory on Friday night.

Meanwhile, LA's win over Memphis on Friday will give them three days of rest before Game 1 of the second-round series on Tuesday.

Game 2 will be on Tuesday while Game 3 will shift to Los Angeles on Saturday. The fourth game of the series will take place on Monday, May 8.

Regardless of the team they will be facing, the Lakers will open the series on the road. The Kings were the third-seeded team after the regular season ended, while the Warriors finished sixth in the Western Conference standings.

The Lakers, however, will not be too fazed by an extra road game. They just dispatched the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, who had the best regular-season home record, in six games.

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The LA Lakers will have a good chance against either the Sacramento Kings or Golden State Warriors

The LA Lakers are peaking at just the right time after making several trade deadline moves. GM Rob Pelinka has made the roster into a deeper and more well-balanced unit than the one that started 2-10.

Coach Darvin Ham claimed that defense would be the Lakers' calling card in the playoffs. Led by Anthony Davis, the team has responded to their coach's call to become an elite defensive unit.

The Lakers (104.0) are third in defensive rating in the playoffs. The Philadelphia 76ers top the field (103.1). Philly, though, faced a Brooklyn Nets team that no longer had Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

The Sacramento Kings' defensive rating (111.2) is sixth in the postseason while the Golden State Warriors (112.0) are eighth.

The offensive ratings of the three aforementioned teams are roughly the same. Sacramento's 112.0 ORTG is ninth, LA's 111.4 is 10th and Golden State's 111.2 is 11th.

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