Lakers could earn extra bit of rest with win in Saturday night’s Game 5

The Los Angeles Lakers are only one win away from going to the NBA Finals and they have a chance to secure their place on Saturday night when they face the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. But if the chance of going to the NBA Finals and being the first team to not let the Nuggets have a chance when they’re down 3-1, they also have another added incentive heading into Game 5: extra rest.

Thanks to the Boston Celtics victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, that guarantees at least one more game in the other series. The NBA Finals schedule has yet to be released, but judging by the scheduling of the entire playoffs, the Finals will probably start no later than a day or two after both teams in the Finals have been determined.

The NBA has pushed back the NBA Draft into mid-November, but it’s pretty clear they are hoping to get out of the Disney World bubble as soon as possible. With the Lakers being the oldest team remaining in the bubble, some extra rest would do them a bit of good both mentally and physically, before the NBA Finals.