NBA Standings 2019: Lakers' Playoffs Hopes All But Over, Clippers, Spurs Have Final Postseason Spots

The Los Angeles Lakers (30-34) still have 18 games left on the schedule, but Monday night might as well have been their regular-season finale. By losing to the Los Angeles Clippers (37-29) 113-105, the Lakers fell to 5.5 games out of the playoff picture and all but officially ended their postseason hopes.

LeBron James’ first season in L.A. hasn’t gone as planned. He’s set to miss the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. The team has gone 10-20 since the superstar suffered a groin injury on Christmas Day, failing to get back on track since his return a few weeks ago.

James is averaging 28.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 10.1 assists per game while shooting 49.7 percent from the field since the All-Star break. The Lakers have a 2-5 record during that stretch.

The San Antonio Spurs (36-29) beat the Denver Nuggets (42-21) Monday, allowing Gregg Popovich’s team to increase their lead as the West’s No.8 seed. The Sacramento Kings (32-31) stand in between the Lakers and the Spurs.

San Antonio owns the tiebreaker over Los Angeles because they’ve already won the regular-season series. The Clippers have beaten the Lakers twice in three tries.

The Lakers will play the Clippers one more time in the final week of the season as they end the year with five straight games against playoff teams. The Lakers only have five games left against teams with losing records.

The Lakers find themselves in the bottom half of the overall 2019 NBA standings with the 17th-best record in the league. L.A. is tied with the No.11 seed Minnesota Timberwolves (29-34) in the loss column, and they are only 2.5 games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks (27-36) for the No.13 seed in the conference.

The Golden State Warriors (44-19) are 14.5 games ahead of the Lakers for first place in both the Pacific Division and the West. Golden State is two games ahead of the No.2 seed Nuggets.

Only three games separate the West’s No.3-No.6 seeds.