Los Angeles Lakers: A chance to demonstrate what they are made of

The regular season has concluded, as LeBron James' Los Angeles defeated New Orleans in their last battle scheduled for the regular season. Funny enough, the Lakers victory triggered an immediate rematch between the two teams next Tuesday. The prize? Face the reigning champions Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference first round of the playoffs.

The Lakers had a season hard to describe. They won the first edition of the In-season tournament by defeating the Indiana Pacers, and after that they embarked in an journey of ups and downs that ended hurting their playoffs chances deeply. Since February, Darvin Ham's squad played way better basketball but couldn't climb out of the play-in due to the insane level of competition in the Western standings.

LA isn't build to be a play-in team. Having LeBron James playing at the level that he's performing, in addition to an MVP and DPOY candidate as Anthony Davis should guarantee better outcomes. The King continues to play on elite level despite the long exhausting 21 seasons on his back, he dished 17 assists along with 28 points and 11 rebounds against the Pelicans. AD rounded 76 games, he's career high this season. He had to exit the game against his former team with 5 minutes to go but he'll surely play on Tuesday.

They are well surrounded by D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. Gabe Vincent is recovered and there's still a chance for Jared Vanderbilt to come back. The big question is if they can stay healthy throughout what could be a grinding playoffs right from the get go.

4 years apart from the Bubble championship, the Lakers lacked enough wins to rank higher in the West ever since, having to go through the play-in to play against the top seeded teams in the first round.

Anthony Davis is the key for the upcoming duel vs Zion Williamson. If AD is healthy, he can take the Lakers to the first round. If the Pelicans win, LA will be playing their future in a death match against the winner of Golden State Warriors-Sacramento Kings.