The Los Angeles Lakers won’t have home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. They need help if they’re going to escape the play-in tournament. It’s simple for the Lakers: They win most of their games when LeBron James plays and lose most of their games when he doesn’t. With him sidelined for 23 of the Lakers’ last 25 games, they’ve fallen to No. 7 in the West — as low as they have been since late December. The most likely fate for the defending NBA champions is playing a game or two in the new play-in round that awaits the teams finishing between seventh and 10th in each conference.
