Playoff Status Will Be Fight to Finish

Just when it seemed the Lakers had settled into seventh place in the Western Conference standings ...

Their lead over the Sacramento Kings was 2 1/2 games less than two weeks ago, an edge that has slipped to nothing, with the Lakers losing the tiebreaker if the teams end up tied.

They are each 40-37 with five games to play. The Lakers get all five at home. The Kings get four of five at Arco Arena, their lone road game coming at Denver.

The Kings have clinched the tiebreaker because their 10-5 Pacific Division record is better than the Lakers’ 6-7. The Lakers have only three division games left, the Kings have one.

Phil Jackson, full-time Laker coach and part-time geographer, has already weighed in: He’d rather play Phoenix than San Antonio, assuming the Spurs and Suns keep their current No. 1 and No. 2 seedings in the Western Conference.

“I would just as soon not travel to San Antonio for the fact of the long flight,” he said. “That’s not taking into consideration who we’re playing. That’s just physical fact.”

After road losses to playoff-bound teams (Denver and Phoenix), the Lakers are simply happy to be home.

“We took our bumps and lumps [on the road] early in the season,” Kobe Bryant said. “We’ve been playing pretty well at Staples Center as of late. Hopefully we can continue that.”

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The Lakers and Kings have less attractive records than the No. 7 and No. 8 teams in the West last season, although the Lakers aren’t apologizing.

A year ago, seventh-place Denver finished with an impressive 49-33 record and eighth-place Memphis was a noteworthy 45-37.

“Let me give you an example,” forward Lamar Odom said. “Remember the teams two years ago in the East that were making it, that weren’t even .500? You think at the end of the day they cared? It makes no difference.

“It’s about survival. It’s about just getting there. And when you get there, it’s about winning a championship. We’ve just got to get there.”

Despite the Suns’ dominance against the Lakers -- 7-0 over the last two seasons -- Odom wouldn’t shy away from facing them in the playoffs.

“It’s not a concern,” he said. “We ain’t scared of anything. When we see them, we’ll see them.”

TONIGHT

vs. Clippers, 6:30, FSN West, Ch. 5

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 570; 1330, 1150.

Records -- Lakers 40-37; Clippers 44-31.

Record vs. Clippers -- 1-2.

Update -- The Clippers were dominant in the teams’ last meeting, taking a 102-83 victory on Feb. 24. Kobe Bryant (39 points) and Chris Mihm (11 points) were the only Lakers to score in double figures. The Clippers lost to Sacramento, 96-93, on Friday, falling to the Kings for a 13th consecutive time.