The last month of Lakers basketball has certainly been as incredible a roller coaster ride as one can imagine. The team spent six of seven away games on a long road trip and reached the low point of the season with a crushing loss to the Heat.

However, that loss in Miami became a turning point in the year, as the team bounced back and finished the month winning five of its last seven games, including the Christmas Day victory over the Warriors.

Before this section, I wrote about how tough it would be for the Lakers and how much it would test them. The mix of travel, away games and the high level of competition probably made it the most difficult part of the team’s schedule.

They came away with a record of 7-7 and a much better atmosphere in the team than when they started. And since NBA schedules are cyclical, this is the beginning of a month for the Lakers in which they could make big moves.

After playing 10 of their last 14 away games, the Lakers will only leave Crypto.com Arena three times in the next 14 games. One of those “road trips” will be across town against the Clippers. From January 9th to 23rd, the Lakers will not leave Los Angeles.

It is expected to be one of the easiest schedules in the league during this period. While the 14 games from Dec. 28 to Jan. 23 are mid-table league-wide, no team will have more home games than the Lakers’ 11.

Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

There are also three away games, two fewer than any other team in the league. You will have the residual advantage in three of these contests and only have a residual disadvantage once. They will only play back-to-back games once in that span, when they play Portland on Jan. 2 and Atlanta on Jan. 3.

The 3,202 miles the Lakers will travel during that period are the fewest in the league by over 1,000 miles. Total miles will be earned by traveling to Houston on January 5th and then to Dallas on January 7th. This road trip against the Mavericks also became a much easier contest as it was recently announced that Luka Doncic would be out for a lot of time and will miss the contest.

On that subject, the Lakers’ opponents during this period will be much easier than the ones they faced last month. Their schedule for the coming month is fourth-best in the NBA with an average winning percentage of .434.

Cleveland and Boston on either side of that stretch will prove difficult tasks. However, between these two games there are six games against teams that are not currently in the playoffs.

To get even more micro, between these games against the Cavs and Celtics, the Lakers’ average winning percentage is .403.

It comes at a time when the Lakers are also on the road to success. After finishing December strong compared to last season, the Lakers are in sixth place in the playoffs. The Western Conference is a tight race from second to 11th, with only five games separating the ten teams.

However, no one will have a better chance of advancing next month than the Lakers.

Last season, the Lakers had a very similar opportunity at a very similar point in their schedule. They missed that chance and then played catch-up for the stretch run of the season just to get into the play-in race.

With a strong January this year, the Lakers could get out of the play-in, secure a home-court battle in the playoffs and, perhaps most importantly, give themselves breathing room to finish the season.

If the Lakers are a serious team — and the jury is definitely still out on that — January could prove to be a launching pad for the rest of the season.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.