The Los Angeles Lakers have become one of the NBA’s biggest puzzles this season, dominating tougher Western Conference opponents while surprisingly struggling against weaker Eastern Conference teams.
The strange disparity was highlighted by Reddit user u/NoobGaijin, who pointed out that following their recent win against the Houston Rockets, the Lakers improved to an impressive 32-13 record against Western Conference teams. That puts them just two games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 35-11 mark in Western Conference matchups, despite OKC being on a historic 63-12 overall pace.
The Lakers boast a +9.7 point differential in those Western Conference victories.
The bizarre twist? Los Angeles holds a losing 14-16 record against Eastern Conference opponents.
“Genuinely how is that even possible?” asked one commenter. “They’ve got a net rating of around +0.7 for the entire season, and the Western Conference is quite competitive, definitely stronger than the Eastern Conference aside from Boston and Cleveland.”
Understanding The Paradox
The Lakers’ conference disparity straight up defies conventional NBA wisdom. The Western Conference has traditionally been considered the stronger conference, which would typically make it harder—not easier—to rack up wins against Western opponents. Multiple theories have emerged to explain the Lakers’ unusual split:
“Experience Lakers basketball baby,” wrote one Reddit user. “It’s probably just an intensity thing.”
Others suggested the team approaches different opponents with varying levels of focus and strategy.
“It’s just my observation so take this with a grain of salt, on the eye test their gameplan vs good teams are on a different level. It’s like they are using East teams and bad teams to experiment a couple of things,” wrote the original poster u/NoobGaijin.
Another Lakers fan added more bluntly: “This team is just lazy against mid/low competition. They never try that hard on defense either. But against the west? Oh it’s locked in time.”
The Blowout Factor
Perhaps most troubling for Lakers fans is the nature of some of their Eastern Conference losses. This season, the Lakers have dropped nine of their 16 Ls against the East by double digits:
@ Cleveland Cavaliers: Lost by 24 points (110-134 on October 30, 2024)
@ Detroit Pistons: Lost by 12 points (103-115 on November 4, 2024)
@ Miami Heat: Lost by 41 points (93-134 on December 4, 2024)
vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Lost by 12 points (110-122 on December 31, 2024)
@ Philadelphia 76ers: Lost by 14 points (104-118 on January 28, 2025)
@ Boston Celtics: Lost by 10 points (101-111 on March 8, 2025)
@ Milwaukee Bucks: Lost by 20 points (106-126 on March 13, 2025)
vs. Chicago Bulls: Lost by 31 points (115-146 on March 22, 2025)
vs. Orlando Magic: Lost by 12 points (106-118 on March 25, 2025)
Playoff Implications
The good news for Lakers fans is their remaining schedule consists entirely of Western Conference opponents, where they’ve excelled all season. With all but one of these games (against New Orleans) featuring teams fighting for playoff positioning, the Lakers have a chance to build momentum against exactly the type of competition they’ll face in the first three rounds of the playoffs.
As one commenter summarized it: “They actually have a winning record against the top of the east too. It’s the trash teams that demolish them.”
