Second place???

I realize the standings say the Dallas Mavericks are still percentage points ahead of the Lakers for second place in the Western Conference standings. I say the Lakers are ahead of the Mavericks, 48 victories to 47. Until the Mavericks get their 48th win, I say the Lakers are ahead of the Mavericks. Follow my logic: if both teams play the rest of their games and they lose all of them, the Lakers would still be ahead, right? Of course, the teams play against March 31, so somebody definitely will not lose 'em all.

The problem is that the teams haven't played the same number of games, so the AP (which keeps track of the standings for newspapers and Websites) relies on winning percentage to determine places. It can create some absurdities. Several seasons ago, the Lakers were placed first in the conference standings because they were percentage points ahead of (I forget the team), but they also were listed as a half-game behind (team X), which was the height of craziness. So ... discuss.