Ahead of a crucial game in Boston on Thursday, Lakers star Anthony Davis opened up on the season and explained why he’s still optimistic about making a run in the West. Despite how bad things look now, Davis was quick to remind everyone that the Lakers are just a few games out of securing a guaranteed playoff spot.

“If you look at the standings, four to five games away from sixth. We’re not off,” said Davis. “We are capable of beating anybody, and we also can lose to anybody on any given night. We gotta put a stretch together […] get everyone healthy and make a run.”

Of course, Davis and James were both ruled out for the game, meaning that this contest will almost surely result in a loss for the Lakers, who have not played well without their top-performing stars on the court.  At 24-25, the Lakers are still battling to keep their heads above the water and every game that they lose going forward will dampen their prognosis for the postseason. So while Anthony Davis speaks the truth when he talks about the Lakers’ position in the standings, the margin for error has never been so slim for them in the crowded Western Conference.

Last year’s Cinderella playoff run came to an abrupt end in the Western Conference Finals when the Lakers lost in a 4-0 sweep to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Despite giving everything they had, the Lakers still weren’t close to completing the mission and they are looking even worse to start this season. Down to 9th in the West, the Lakers have been inconsistent from top to bottom starting with LeBron and AD, who continue to practice load management despite the team’s ongoing struggles.

Off the bench, the Lakers have not had anybody to rely on offensively as their new acquisitions have been streaky at the best of times. Unfortunately, problems to this degree are enough to hold the Lakers back from a Finals run, especially given the level of competition they have to keep up with in the West.

With just a few weeks to go before the NBA’s annual trade deadline, it’s only a matter of time before we see the team make some major changes. Already, multiple players have been connected to the franchise, including Zach LaVine, Dejounte Murray, and veteran point guard Spencer Dinwiddie. With a need for scoring and playmaking in the backcourt, those names make a lot of sense for this version of the Lakers.

The question is, are they willing to pay the price? With D’Angelo Russell on fire recently, his value to the team has skyrocketed and he’s been the only bright spot for them over the past few months. This season, Rob will have to make some tough choices on the roster and decide which players are worth keeping vs which ones are better off somewhere else. Either way, the lakers are not ready to give up and Anthony Davis made it clear that they still believe in what they can do.