The end of the NBA regular season is drawing near with just a handful of games left for the majority of the teams in the league. With that being said, the NBA playoffs are starting to shape up in both the Western and Eastern Conferences with potential matchups becoming clearer and clearer.

One of the more intriguing battles for playoff-seeding in the West is the Los Angeles Lakers battling for position with the Los Angeles Clippers. As of right now, the Lakers are currently the third seed with three games remaining on their schedule. With the Clippers just a half game back, the Lakers will be in must-win situations in the final three games in order to hold onto the third spot.

Even though the Lakers are more than capable of winning their final three games, it won’t come without a challenge with Los Angeles having to face the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Sacramento Kings in perhaps the franchise’s last home game in Sactown. The challenge will be tough to get through these three games and stay at the third spot, but fortunately they will have superstar Kobe Bryant back in the fold as he will be returning from a shin injury on Friday night to take on the Spurs at the AT&T Center.

After missing seven consecutive games with a bruised left shin, Kobe will attempt to put down the clipboard and suit up for the Lakeshow once again. It is uncertain at this point in time just how many minutes Kobe will get on the floor on Friday night, but Lakers head coach Mike Brown will try to get his best player back in action and game-ready for the upcoming NBA playoffs.

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