After the 2022 All-Star Weekend and three days of no-basketball, it's time for the business end of the regular season.
The star-studded Los Angeles Lakers, who were considered pre-season favourites to come out of the Western Conference, have plenty of work ahead of them to make the playoffs, let alone contend for a title.
The squad not only makes an appearance on our Panic Meter but are also part of the biggest storylines heading into the second half of the season.
That said, here's a preview to the Lakers' second of the season including their playoff odds and a breakdown of their remaining schedule,
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Lakers 2022 playoff odds
At the break, the Lakers are sitting with a 27-31 record.
That puts them at ninth in the West, trailing the eighth-seeded LA Clippers by 2.5 games while leading the tenth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers by the same margin.
As per ESPN's NBA BPI Playoff Odds, they are projected to finish at 38-44 with a 27.7% chance to make the 2022 playoffs. Fivethirtyeight projections are similar, estimating them to finish with a 36-46 record and a 20% chance of making the postseason.
That said, their chances of making the Finals or winning it are less than 1%.
Lakers 2021-22 remaining schedule
The Lakers have a tough road ahead.
According to Tankathon, which combines the winning percentage of each team's remaining opponents to determine their strength of schedule, they have the third-toughest remaining schedule. They play 18 of their remaining 24 games against teams with a similar or better record than theirs.
They began the season as the team with the most nationally televised games with 42. Of their remaining fixtures, they have 14 that would be either be on ESPN/ABC, TNT or NBA TV, which only adds to the pressure.
| Date | Opponent | Time [ET] | National TV |
| Feb. 25 | vs. Clippers | 10:00 p.m | ESPN |
| Feb. 27 | vs. Pelicans | 10:00 p.m | ESPN |
| Mar. 1 | vs. Mavericks | 10:00 p.m | TNT |
| Mar. 3 | at Clippers | 10:00 p.m | TNT |
| Mar. 5 | vs. Warriors | 8:30 p.m | ABC |
| Mar. 7 | at Spurs | 8:30 p.m | |
| Mar. 9 | at Rockets | 8:00 p.m | |
| Mar. 11 | vs. Wizards | 10:30 p.m | NBA TV |
| Mar. 13 | at Suns | 9:00 p.m | ESPN |
| Mar. 14 | vs. Rockets | 10:30 p.m | |
| Mar. 16 | at Timberwolves | 8:00 p.m | |
| Mar. 18 | at Raptors | 7:30 p.m | |
| Mar. 19 | at Wizards | 8:00 p.m | |
| Mar. 21 | at Cavaliers | 7:00 p.m | |
| Mar. 23 | vs. 76ers | 10:00 p.m | ESPN |
| Mar. 27 | at Pelicans | 7:00 p.m | |
| Mar. 29 | at Mavericks | 7:30 p.m | TNT |
| Mar. 31 | at Jazz | 10:00 p.m | TNT |
| Apr. 1 | vs. Pelicans | 10:30 p.m | NBA TV |
| Apr. 3 | vs. Nuggets | 3:30 p.m | ABC |
| Apr. 5 | at Suns | 10:30 p.m | NBA TV |
| Apr. 7 | at Warriors | 10:00 p.m | TNT |
| Apr. 8 | vs. Thunder | 10:30 p.m | |
| Apr. 10 | at Nuggets | TBD |
Towards the end of the season, they would be accumulating a lot of travel miles as they play only four of the final 14 games at home including games at Phoenix, San Francisco, Dallas and Salt Lake City.
Anthony Davis' return timetable
The absence of Anthony Davis is a huge reason why the remainder of the Lakers' season could feel like a serious uphill climb.
AD suffered a right ankle sprain on Feb. 16 in the team's final game before the break against the Jazz. He was diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain on his right foot and would be re-evaluated in four weeks.
That timeline puts his re-evaluation at Mar. 16. Even if he gets cleared to play immediately, he's still set to miss 10 of the team's remaining 24 games.
On Mar. 16, the Lakers play in Minnesota, which is the first of a four-game road trip. That date also tips-off the team's difficult road-heavy schedule to end the season.
Contract details for LeBron, AD, and Russell Westbrook
Despite their struggles heading into the All-Star break, having lost 12 of their previous 18 games, the Lakers stood pat and made no moves at the mid-season trade deadline.
Their point guard Russell Westbrook was the center of all the rumours and reported trade deals.
However, considering the salary over the remainder of his contract (>90 million over 2021-2023 including a player option before 2022), its safe to say the Lakers would not have been able find a favourable trade offer without giving up more assets like future draft picks, which they already have a shortage of.
In fact, the Lakers owe their trio of Westbrook, AD ($35,361,360) and James ($41,180,544) over $120 million while the league's salary cap is at $112.414 million.
For the upcoming 2022-23 season, the trio (Westbrook - $47,063,478; AD - $37,980,720; James - $44,474,988) would be paid over $128 million when the salary cap is expeceted to be around $121 million.
Davis is the only one of the trio to have a long-term deal with the team, until the end of the 2024-25 season, while the duo of Westbrook and James expire at the end of the 2022-23 season.
