The Lakers sit just one game ahead of the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference standings and own the tie-breaker. Los Angeles' outlook entering the playoffs looked great, until Luka Dončić suffered a hamstring injury in Thursday night's blowout loss.
If, as a Nuggets fan, you wondered how that'd affect Denver in the standings (after you wished Luka well, of course), the truth is that it will still be quite challenging to overtake the Lakers as the three-seed.
It feels like the Nuggets' schedule has worked against them all season long, and that's still the case. They have the toughest remaining schedule in the league, including two games against the Spurs and one against the Thunder.
On the flip side, Los Angeles has the 17th toughest remaining schedule. Without Dončić, the Lakers could fall in the standings (or they could surprise everyone again), but that doesn't mean the Nuggets will take their place.
Nuggets may not pass Lakers to reach No. 3 seed
The silver lining for Denver is that its final two games of the season will be against Oklahoma City (April 10) and San Antonio (April 12). The Thunder currently have a two-game lead over the Spurs, but SA holds the tiebreaker.
Perhaps by the time April 10 rolls around, the Thunder and Spurs will already be locked into the top two seeds, meaning they could rest key players for the playoffs when they play the Nuggets. That could help vault Denver up to No. 3.
Moving to the third seed would keep the Nuggets from facing the Thunder in the semifinal for the second straight year, assuming both teams made it past the first round. To make it out of the West, they'd still have to get past OKC, so that matchup could be delayed until the conference finals.
You might think that's the more preferable route, but if Minnesota stayed as the sixth seed, the Nuggets would play the Timberwolves in the first round. It's life in the West — even the "better" alternatives aren't that much better.
All that Denver can do is focus on its remaining schedule and take care of business. The rest will sort itself out from there.
As for the Lakers and Nikola Jokić's good friend, Luka, hopefully, things aren't as bad as they looked (and how he reacted), and he'll be able to maybe be back on the court in the playoffs.