The Lakers, after losing Wednesday in Sacramento, are running out of ways to make progress in the Western Conference playoff race. They currently sit in ninth, and while the literal number of games by which they trail the teams in front of them isn't crazy, it's big enough that with 15 games to go, making up ground will be tricky. 

Especially since the Lakers only own a tiebreaker on Phoenix, who are three games in front of them heading into Thursday's games. They're a game up on Golden State for 10th. 

It's starting to look like the Lakers could be locked into the 9/10 slots, and if they're not careful, 10 becomes more likely. A lot could be cleared up on Saturday when the Lakers take on the Warriors at Staples. A win puts LA in the driver's seat to host the 9/10 game. A loss makes it much more likely to play that game on the road, and therefore win two games away from the Crypt in order to advance to the big boy playoffs. 

One big reason for the team's inconsistency of late is Anthony Davis, who isn't playing poorly by any stretch, but in March hasn't dominated the way he has for most of the season. Scoring and efficiency are both down, and the difference makes a huge impact on the Lakers, who need Davis to be playing at the first-team All NBA level he's been at for most of the season. 

Finally, D'Angelo Russell created a stir this week after Dave McMenamin at ESPN posted a great story about Russell's arc as a Laker, from his arrival last year, though a rough end to the playoffs, and into this season trying to build a relationship with Darvin Ham. There was a ton of interesting stuff in it, both related to Russell himself and how he navigates his career, but also regarding comments about Darvin Ham, and team culture generally. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers are dangerously close to being locked into the 9/10 spot in the West. 

SEGMENT 2: AD has been less consistent this month, and the impact is noticeable. 

SEGMENT 3: D'Angelo Russell speaks! 

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