[Eddy from Austin]

294: Under the current 16-team playoff format, 294 teams have started 15-20 or worse (as the Lakers have) through 35 games. And a mere 40 of those 294 teams, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, have gone on to make the playoffs. Only four teams in the West, furthermore, have pulled that off in the past 15 seasons ... including the 2002-03 Lakers. Those Lakers also rank as one of just three teams, of the aforementioned 294, to win an actual playoff series, joining Phoenix in 1984 and Miami in 2004.