This is the rules of the play in
https://www.nba.com/news/nba-play-in-tournament
Loser of 7 and 8 will face the winner of the 9 and 10.. So if the Lakers will end at the top 8 and they loss to the Suns, they still have one shot by playing the winner of 9 and 10.. So there's an advantage in finishing at 8 rather than 9 or 10.
Yes, it's better to be on the 8th position rather than 9 or 10 between. 9 and 10 will be on a death match or at least they have to win twice to advance. And after that they will be facing the top seed.
Kings losing again and now they are tied with the Warriors at the 9 and 10 spot, and the Lakers moving to 8th position now.
I haven't check the history of the last 3 teams, do you have an idea what would be the ranking in case they will end up tied? I know that these three will have their last games, but what if Lakers will lose and the Kings and Warriors will win, that would result to 46-36 record for all three.
Divisional Win percentage: If the head-to-head record doesn't break the tie, the procedure moves to the divisional win percentage for teams from the same division. The team with a better record against its divisional opponents secures the higher seed.
Conference Win Percentage: If the divisional records don't resolve the tie or teams are from different divisions, then conference win percentage is the next criterion. The team with a better win percentage against teams from its conference gets a higher seed.
TBH, I don't know if I'm right but in case of a triple tie, the Kings will be the 8th followed by the Warriors at 9th and the Lakers will be at 10th. The final game for these 3 teams will be very crucial for their position in the play-in tournament. Correct me if I'm wrong please.