The final week of the regular season is here, which means the start of the 2025 NBA Playoffs are just around the corner for the Los Angeles Lakers. And despite that being the case, the Western Conference standings are nowhere close to being sorted out.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have clinched the No. 1 seed and the Houston Rockets have the inside track for the No. 2 seed. The Lakers are next in line and control their destiny for the third seed, needing just two wins in their final four games to get it.
After that though, there are five teams with 32 losses fighting for seeds 4-8. Everyone wants to avoid the Play-In Tournament, of course, but realistically, the Lakers’ first round opponent could be any of the Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves or Memphis Grizzlies.
Out of all of those teams, the Grizzlies are clearly the most desirable first round opponent for all of the top seeds. After being the 2-seed for a majority of the year, the Grizzlies have slid down the standings and recently fired their coach. Despite them having a lot of young talent, no one is afraid to play Memphis in the postseason.
So for the sake of making the latest Lakers Nation Roundtable an interesting one, we left the Grizzlies out and all selected our preferred first round opponent for L.A. in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane):
All four potential teams present serious challenges which isn’t a surprise given the depth of the NBA’s Western Conference. There is no easy match up, but given the way the Lakers have excelled at generating quality looks against teams that play big against them, I’d pick the Timberwolves as the preferred matchup for LA. That said, I’d still expect a very close series.
Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand):
I think of the listed teams, the Timberwolves would be the best first-round matchup for the Lakers. Luka Doncic has abused Rudy Gobert in their past matchups, and the Lakers have the perimeter defenders to slow down Anthony Edwards.
Oddly enough I think the Timberwolves are one of the best overall teams among these choices and have been playing really good basketball down the stretch, but styles make fights and they just do not match up that well with this version of the Lakers.
Ron Gutterman (@RonGutterman24)
I think the Clippers would be the most favorable matchup for the Lakers in the first round. Both teams are constructed relatively similarly. Two star players surrounded by a strong third option and 3-and-D depth.
The Clippers have the advantage with Zubac over Jaxson Hayes, but the Lakers are stronger just about everywhere else. I don’t see Kawhi Leonard and James Harden having enough in the tank to out-duel LeBron and Luka for 7 games.
Corey Hansford (@TheeCoreyH)
I might be a little crazy considering recent history, but I would love for the Lakers to face the Nuggets in the first-round of the playoffs.
Yes, part of this has to do with the fact that I really just want the Lakers to finally exact some revenge on the team that has eliminated them in the last two playoffs. But despite the all-time greatness of Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets are the most vulnerable of the other potential opponents aside from Memphis, having lost seven of their last 10 games. They also just fired their coach Michael Malone.
Jamal Murray is still a giant question mark with his health and even when he’s been on the court, he hasn’t been anywhere near the level of player he has been against the Lakers in the past. Additionally, the Nuggets don’t have the depth of previous teams and I’ll gladly take my chances against the likes of Jalen Pickett, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther.
As Shannon Sharpe would say: Joker, Choker, Poker…Lakers in 5
Matthew Peralta (@_MatthewPeralta):
I think the Clippers would be the best first-round opponent for the Lakers for a few reasons. The first reason being I think the combination of LeBron, Luka and Austin Reaves is a lot to handle for any opponent and I like the advantages that the trio can create against the Clippers.
Second, not having to travel far between games and not playing every other day would work in the Lakers’ favor being the older team. We saw how brutal their March schedule was and how that impacted their performance, so less travel and more days off in between bodes well for them to advance.
Third, I think winning a playoff series would finally quiet some noise about L.A. being remotely close to a Clippers town.
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