Magic Johnson reveals the playoff importance of Lakers' next four games

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When it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers, few players, past or present, have as much respect from the fanbase as Magic Johnson.

A former face of the franchise who has brought championships to the City of Angeles, has his jersey hanging from the rafters at Crypto.com, and will forever be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Johnson has remained one of the Lakers’ biggest supporters even decades after his athletic career came to an end, and he has the championships with the Los Angeles Dodgers – which he co-owns – to prove it.

And after watching the latest iteration of the purple and gold come together in an incredible way with Luka Doncic at the trigger of JJ Redick’s offense, the “Magic Man” has high hopes for the Lakers, especially if they can prove themselves against a series of playoff-bound teams over the next week, as he noted on social media.

“This week will tell us a lot about the Lakers as they face all playoff teams,” Johnson boldly declared on social media. “It starts tonight with the most hated Nuggets, the Mavericks on Tuesday, the Timberwolves on Thursday, and the Clippers back-to-back on Friday and Sunday. Big tests ahead!”

And after the game came to an end, Johnson was on it too, letting fans know that he’s proud of the team’s efforts against the Nuggets and is not excited to see them go head-to-head against a number of quality Western Conference opponents over the next few games.

“Big win for the Lakers tonight!” Johnson declared on social media. “This game proves that Luka, LeBron, and Reaves can thrive in JJ Redick's offense— and Rui helped out a lot tonight too. It was a great performance on both ends of the court. If the Lakers keep this up, they have a real shot at playing in the Western Conference Finals!

“Okay, Lakers – one playoff-contending team down. Now it's time to get ready for the Mavs!”

You know, in this, as with most basketball situations, it’s really hard to argue with Magic on this one, as his assertion is pretty much spot on: the Lakers had not one, not two, but four players score at least 20 points in their win over the Nuggets, with the Luka Doncic and LeBron James connection getting bigger and better with each passing game they play together. Give the duo another month or two to get their sea legs under them, and goodness, this team might be able to go places on the offensive side of the ball.

While one win is great, as Johnson noted, the Lakers have a pretty tough run over the next few games, with the Mavericks, Timberwolves, and Clippers, twice, still to play in this stretch. If the Lakers finish this run with a winning record, however, it will really only solidify their spot as one of the toughest teams in the Western Conference.

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