Lakers continue to climb in the standings - latimes.com

Lakers continue to climb in the standings - latimes.com: "The Lakers head into 2013 in 10th place (Western Conference) with a 15-15 record, overtaking both the Utah Jazz (15-17) and the Dallas Mavericks (12-19).

The minimum goal of the regular season is to finish in the top eight. Naturally, the Lakers will strive to finish as high as possible, but anything above sixth place in the West will be difficult to attain.

The Clippers (25-6) have the best record in the NBA and are slightly ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-6). The Lakers have already lost once to both teams this year.

The Lakers play both the Clippers and Thunder three more times each this season. The Clippers face the Thunder twice. If the Lakers sweep all six, they'll still be six losses behind both.

If either the Thunder or Clippers sweep the other, the Lakers would need that same team to lose four more than the Lakers do. It's not impossible, but the Lakers are unlikely to overtake either team.

The San Antonio Spurs (25-8) are 8 1/2 ahead of the Lakers. The Spurs took the first meeting and the two meet twice again in the regular season. If the Lakers take both over San Antonio, they're still five losses behind."

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