Lakers report: Game against Suns means a lot to the lottery

It’s going to be a big game, something the Lakers’ haven’t been able to say much this season. Really big, in fact.

NBA lottery percentages will be the headline Friday when the Lakers play the Phoenix Suns, and that’s how far the franchise has dropped in recent years.

Lakers games in March used to be playoff tuneups, a chance to fight for postseason seeding while determining what needed extra work before going into the games that really count.

Now a portion of their fan base is counting on a loss to Phoenix to create that much more distance in the standings. Lakers fans want Louisiana State’s Ben Simmons or Duke’s Brandon Ingram, not a three-point squeaker over the only other Western Conference team officially eliminated from playoff contention.

The Lakers (14-54) are four games behind the Suns (18-49) and they meet again next Wednesday in Phoenix.

The Lakers have the NBA’s second-worst record and a 55.8% chance of keeping their top-three protected pick on lottery night. Their chances fall to 46.9% if they pass Phoenix in the standings over the final four weeks.

Indeed, if the Lakers drop below third at the May 17 lottery, the pick is sent to the Philadelphia 76ers, who acquired it from the Suns, who acquired it from the Lakers in 2012 for Steve Nash.

Instead of bobbleheads, the Lakers could hand out pingpong balls to fans Friday at Staples Center.

This is weird, no?

“As far as I’m concerned, we’re not in a weird position,” Lakers Coach Byron Scott said Thursday. “We play Phoenix and we’re trying to win the game.”

The Lakers are well on their way to their worst season ever for a second consecutive year. Their 21 victories last season seem untouchable unless a team that’s won 20.6% of its games suddenly wins half its remaining ones.

Scott has detested talking about the lottery as it has gradually crept into each of the last two seasons. “My sentiment hasn’t changed from last year to this year as far as that’s concerned,” he said.

He was a little more chatty on the “tanking” concept a few weeks ago, saying it “sets a bad precedent” to try to lose on purpose.

“I think that’s a bad way to present that to your team, ‘We’re trying to lose so we can protect the top-three pick.’ That’s a bad omen to me,” Scott said at the time. “So I would never, even behind closed doors, tell my players, tell my coaches, tell my trainers or anybody that we were trying to lose games on purpose to protect the pick.

“I’m not coaching, looking at the clock, going, ‘All right, man, if we can just turn it over a few more times and miss a few more shots, this game is in the bag as far as a loss is concerned.’ That’s not me,” he said. “We’re trying to win every game and trying to build something with the young guys that we have here.”

The Lakers don’t have to lose on purpose. They’re just not very good, period.

As such, they currently have a 19.9% shot at the No. 1 pick, 18.8% at No. 2 and 17.1% at the third pick on lottery night.

Up next for the Lakers:

VS. PHOENIX

When: 7:30. p.m. Friday.

Where: Staples Center.

On the air: TV: TWC SportsNet, TWC Deportes; Radio: 710, 1330.

Records: Lakers 14-54, Suns 18-49 through Wednesday.

Record vs. Suns: 1-1.

Update: Rookie Devin Booker has been scoring at will recently for the Suns, including back-to-back games of 30-plus points against Denver and New York. Booker, a shooting guard, was drafted 13th overall last June. Suns guard Brandon Knight secured his first career triple-double in a 120-101 Suns victory over the Lakers in November. He had 30 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

Twitter: @Mike_Bresnahan

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