THE 2018-19 NBA regular season is past halfway in terms of the number of games played and there are still many questions regarding the serious title contenders and which teams can or won’t make the play-offs.

The top five teams in the Eastern Conference have separated themselves and have very believable chances at making the NBA finals. They all have at least one All-NBA calibre player and have proved themselves capable throughout the season. The Western Conference is much less defined as the top eight teams are all within striking distance of each other but the top three have been clustered around the No. 1 seed for about a month now. JustBet offers all the top contenders (in both Conferences) with attractive odds to take home the title but, still in the mix at $25.00, are the LA Lakers.

The Lakers signed LeBron James last summer in the hope of bolstering their play-off hopes and, for a while, the plan appeared to be coming to fruition. LeBron has been in the play-offs 13 times since the 2005–06 season and has had 8 straight final appearances dating back to 2010. Four of these finals were with the Miami Heat (2011-2014) and the others were during his second engagement with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2015-2018). In that span, he has won three championships: 2012, 2013 and 2016.

The Lakers’ play-off chances currently aren’t mathematically zero, but they’re very grim (statistically and realistically). In late February and early March, the Lakers have done themselves no favours. They have suffered losses in four of their last seven games to lottery teams, including the Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans (without Anthony Davis), and the NBA-worst Phoenix Suns. This is the latest into a season that a LeBron-led team has had a sub-.500 record since his rookie season (2003-04) when the Cavaliers finished 35-47. While it may still be technically possible for him to make the playoffs, in reality, the chase is more than likely over.

DATE TIME HOME AWAY

08/03/19 19:00 DAL MAVERICKS ORL MAGIC

WAS WIZARDS CHA HORNETS

20:00 TOR RAPTORS NO PELICANS

CLE CAVALIERS MIA HEAT

DET PISTONS CHI BULLS

PHI 76ers HOU ROCKETS

22:30 DEN NUGGETS GS WARRIORS

09/03/19 12:00 SAC KINGS NY KNICKS

19:00 BKN NETS ATL HAWKS

20:00 WAS WIZARDS MIN TIMBERWOLVES

20:30 BOS CELTICS LA LAKERS

21:00 CHA HORNETS MIL BUCKS

22:00 PHO SUNS POR T BLAZERS

10/03/19 11:00 CHI BULLS DET PISTONS

14:30 IND PACERS PHI 76ers

TOR RAPTORS MIA HEAT

17:00 NO PELICANS ATL HAWKS

17:00 ORL MAGIC MEM GRIZZLIES

18:00 HOU ROCKETS DAL MAVERICKS

19:00 MIL BUCKS SA SPURS

NY KNICKS MIN TIMBERWOLVES

19:30 PHX SUNS GS WARRIORS