This Troubling Lakers Stat Could Come Back to Haunt Them in the Playoffs

Playing effective basketball in the regular season is hard enough as is, but doing it over the course of a four-round postseason is a whole other challenge.

The Los Angeles Lakers, 39-12, feel comfortable about where they are right now: atop the Western Conference and trailing just the Bucks for the NBA's best record. One stat, however, should have Lakers fans concerned about what the playoffs will bring this year.

The Cavaliers, Knicks, Hornets and Warriors are all at least 20 games below .500 while the Lakers are almost 30 games over. Los Angeles finds themselves third in scoring margin while the Bucks, Celtics, Raptors and Clippers round out the league's top five. The Lakers play each of those teams once more before the end of the regular season, still in search of their first win against one of them.

The worst part about this stat is that LA is yet to beat any of those teams despite both LeBron James and Anthony Davis having played. The Lakers have dealt with an onslaught of injuries throughout this season, but how can they expect to thrive in the playoffs if they can't separate themselves from the league's best teams with their top talent healthy?

Los Angeles didn't make any moves before last Thursday's trade deadline but may look to target a recent buyout via free agency. If the Lakers can't retain their place in the Western Conference standings before the playoffs, they could be in trouble.