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After a season in which the Los Angeles Lakers were snakebitten throughout and lost Kobe Bryant at the end, they finally got lucky at the perfect time.

When the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Utah Jazz 86-70 at the FedEx Forum on Wednesday, it knocked the Jazz out of the playoffs on the final night of the regular season and ensured that the Lakers are in.

The Lakers tipped off against the Houston Rockets at the Staples Center just after that game ended with the stakes considerably lower than do-or-die but relevant nonetheless:

• A win would give them the No. 7 seed and a chance to take on the ailing San Antonio Spurs in the first round.

• A loss would give them the No. 8 seed and a matchup against the younger, quicker Oklahoma City Thunder, a nightmare matchup.

No matter which team the Lakers face in the playoffs, however, they managed to avoid the infamy of becoming the sixth team in franchise history to not make the playoffs.

All in all, it was quite the consolation prize for a team that spent the last three weeks in playoff mode because of the endless twists and turns to its underachieving season.

Bryant's season-ending Achilles tendon tear suffered Friday against the Golden State Warriors was seen by some as the proverbial nail in the Lakers' coffin, with the Black Mamba, as he is known, being relegated to cheerleader status. It seemed unlikely they could keep winning without him.

But the Lakers finished the Friday win vs. the Warriors without him to keep their postseason hopes alive, then downed San Antonio without him Sunday.

Entering the game against the Rockets, the Lakers (44-37) had won seven of their last eight games and were 27-12 since Jan. 23. "And to think some said we wouldn't make it," Bryant wrote on Twitter after it was official that the Lakers made the playoffs. "#keepcalm #believe #makeplayoffs now #makehistory"