How can LeBron James and crew make the playoffs? A closer look at the LA Lakers schedule as they continue to push

With just 10 games remaining this season, the LA Lakers are sitting just outside the Western Conference play-in picture. This means that every game will be crucial for the Lakers moving forward. Meanwhile, they are still without star forward LeBron James. The Lakers will have to continue relying heavily on star big man Anthony Davis to carry them to success.

The Lakers (35-37, 11th in the West) are currently tied with the 12th-placed New Orleans Pelicans (35-37). However, they are also just 1.5 games behind the sixth-place Golden State Warriors (37-36). So there is still a lot of room for variance in terms of where the Lakers could finish in the standings.

Luckily for them, their remaining 10-game schedule will feature just three games against teams above .500. This includes two matchups against Phoenix (38-33, fourth in the West) and one against the LA Clippers (38-35, fifth in the West).

LA’s other seven matchups will feature two games against Utah (35-36, 10th in the West) and two against Chicago (34-37, 10th in the East). The remaining three will come against OKC (36-36, seventh in the West), Minnesota (36-37, ninth in the West) and Houston (18-54, 15th in the West).

Out of these matchups, the Lakers’ games against Utah, OKC, and Minnesota could prove to be the most pivotal. This comes as these are three of the four teams currently in a play-in position in the West.

LA will likely need to finish the season at least 5-5 to make the play-in. However, the Lakers securing a winning record over their final 10 games would go a long way to increasing their chances. LA needs to go 6-4 over its final 10 games to finish the season at .500 (41-41) and 7-3 to finish with a winning record (42-40).

So all things considered, it looks like the Lakers’ battle for the playoffs will come down to the wire.

When will LeBron James make his return?

As for when LeBron James could return, he still has no definite target date. However, Lakers coach Darvin Ham expressed optimism on Sunday that James will return at some point before the end of the season.

"We anticipate him coming back at some point (this season)," Ham said.

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James has been out since Feb. 26 due to a right foot injury. The Lakers have gone 6-5 since. Overall, LA (35-37, 11th in the West) is now 24-23 with James and 11-14 without him this season.

James is averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 2.1 3-pointers on 50.1% shooting through 47 games.