EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Most prognosticators had them finishing seventh or eighth in the Western Conference. Sports Illustrated predicted they would finish out of the playoffs at No. 9.

Six months later, the Lakers stand one victory away from clinching the No. 1 seed in the West. They can do it Tuesday night against Sacramento in their regular-season finale to trigger home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.

Was it really last October that management sought trade partners for a disenchanted Kobe Bryant? Was it really 2 1/2 months ago that the team had dropped four of six games after Andrew Bynum went down because of a serious knee injury?

Now that their goal is clear, the Lakers reflected Monday on the remarkable unfolding of their season.

"I think it would be extremely special for us to lock up the No.1 seed, especially considering the amount of injuries that we've had," Bryant said.

"It's been kind of a roller-coaster season. We've had to adjust and change our style of play seemingly every two weeks. It would be a great accomplishment for us."

Expectations were low for the Lakers in the packed West. They had changed little of their roster from the prior season outside of bringing back Derek Fisher.

Of course, the blossoming of Bynum and the acquisition of Pau Gasol changed everything. But the Lakers have a long memory with those low expectations.

"That's the best part about it," Lamar Odom said. "People were giving us the eight spot, seven spot. To win it is cool. Especially because I've never been in this position.

We had a lot of confidence in our team. I think this time together gave us confidence. I said in the first few games that there isn't a team in the NBA that couldn't be beaten on any given night. And you can fall to any team."

The Lakers will have to remember that tonight. Sacramento was victorious at Staples Center on March 9 and will surely look to play spoiler.

"We owe ourselves one," Odom said. "We would like to finish the regular season No. 1 in the West. Home-court advantage would be fun in the playoffs."

Bryant has downplayed the MVP race, preferring to talk about winning and team play. But now that the race appears to be between him and Chris Paul, Bryant has been more open about the topic.

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Asked if he thought this was his year to win the award given his team is No.1 in the West, Bryant said, "I've always said winning MVP now is really about making your teammates better, which has always been a criticism directed toward me. To be in that category, to me, is a great accomplishment."

Bryant has never won the award. During the Lakers' championship years in 2000-02, Shaquille O'Neal took MVP honors in 2000 and was NBA Finals MVP all three times. Where is that perceived criticism coming from?

"I don't know," Bryant said. "Last I checked I won three rings. So it's kind of tough to (not) be the type of player that's going to make your teammates better. Shaq wasn't the only one doing that. Even though the criticism is there, I don't think it's justified. It's still a challenge. It's a challenge I accept."