Lakers' playoff odds longer with Anthony Davis out 4 weeks minimum; Los Angeles guaranteed to finish under season win total

Last Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers had one of their best wins of the season, rallying to beat the fully healthy Utah Jazz 106-101 to end a three-game losing streak. Following that victory, oddsmakers listed the Lakers' chances of reaching the Western Conference playoffs at +210. That number is now +250 with the news Anthony Davis will not miss two weeks as originally expected but perhaps four or more.

When betting on NBA playoff odds, note that it's being in the final eight teams of a conference, not simply qualifying for the play-in tournament, which the Lakers did last season. They ended up qualifying but lost in the first round to Phoenix, in part because Davis went down with an injury in Game 4, the first-ever first-round loss for LeBron James.

Los Angeles (27-31) currently sits ninth in the West, six games out of the No. 6 spot and automatic qualification – that's not happening – and 2.5 games ahead of No. 11 San Antonio and New Orleans. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they have the third-hardest schedule remaining in the NBA as their opponents' combined winning percentage is .536.

The No. 9 and 10 teams in each conference have to win two games to reach the postseason. The winner of the No. 7-8 game is in as the No. 7 seed, and the loser faces the winner of the No. 9-10 for the final spot.

Davis is a fantastic player and easily the best defensive player on the Lakers but simply can't be counted on to stay healthy at this point. He was off to a fine start in that Jazz victory last Wednesday with 17 points, two rebounds, two assist and two blocks in 17 minutes when he when he went airborne to catch a lob pass from Malik Monk and came down on Rudy Gobert's heel in the second quarter. That would end Davis' night. X-rays revealed no fracture and thus the original diagnosis of perhaps two weeks missed, but then an MRI the next day revealed a mid-foot sprain.

The former No. 1 overall already had missed 17 straight games from late December to late January with a sprained MCL in his left knee. Overall, he has missed 21 games and L.A. is 10-11 in those – to be fair, the Lakers are 17-20 with Davis, but LeBron missed a lot of those games. Davis is averaging 23.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.2 steals and figures to miss about 11 games on the conservative side with this injury.

The SportsLine Projection Model forecasts the Lakers to finish with 37.2 victories, which would be ninth in the West, and with a 24.6 percent chance of the playoffs, which equates to about +305.

Entering the season, the Lakers were set at Over/Under 52.5 victories at sportsbooks, so Under bettors already have cashed because the team has 24 games left.

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