Lakers vs. Pelicans Preview and Game Thread: A rematch in the play-in

The Lakers can secure the seventh seed in the Western Conference with a win over the Pelicans in a rematch of the regular season finale.

The Lakers have reached the postseason and will now play the New Orleans Pelicans in the first play-in game on the road Tuesday.

The stakes are clear: if the Lakers win, they earn the seventh seed and will play the Denver Nuggets in the first round starting Saturday. If they lose, they’ll host the winner of the No. 9 vs No. 10 game on Friday in Los Angeles for the eighth seed.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Pelicans

When: 4:30 p.m. PT, Apr 14.

Where: Smoothie King Center

Watch: TNT/TruTV

The Lakers have been on a roll recently, winning back-to-back games and seven of their last ten. They have been in playoff mode for weeks and have solidified their rotation. The starters have long been LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell and the backup unit has consisted of Taurean Prince, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jaxson Hayes and Gabe Vincent in recent games.

When healthy, this iteration of the Lakers has been difficult to beat, with their last loss when LeBron and Davis were available the entire game coming on Mar. 29 against the Indiana Pacers.

The health of the Lakers stars is still up in the air, particularly with Davis, who left Sunday’s game against the Pelicans in the final minutes with back spasms. He did all but guarantee he’d play in the play-in game but is officially listed as questionable on the Lakers injury report.

If Davis and LeBron play, Los Angeles has to like its chances in New Orleans. They’ve beaten this team three out of four times in head-to-head matchups this season, including a 44-point win in the NBA In-Season tournament. They also are coming off a 124-108 victory over the Pelicans on the last day of the regular season.

The win secured the eighth spot for the Lakers and dropped the Pelicans down from sixth to seventh, forcing them to participate in the play-in.

The Laker game plan should remain the same as it was for Sunday’s game: a heavy dose of Davis, LeBron distributing the ball and deciding when it’s time to attack, starters like Russell and Reaves hitting open jumpers and treading water during the non-LeBron, non-Davis minutes.

If the Lakers can execute on all those phases, they should be able to buck the trend of eighth seeds losing to the seventh seed in the play-in and punch their ticket into the playoffs.

A defeat wouldn’t end their season, but it would put one foot into the grave. They’d need a win at home against the Kings/Warriors winner to avoid elimination entirely from the postseason.

Let’s hope it doesn’t have to come to that and the Lakers take care of business and earn their sixty-fourth playoff appearance.

Notes and Updates

• The Lakers listed Anthony Davis (back spasms) as probable and LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) as questionable. Jalen Hood-Schifino (lumbar disc surgery), Jarred Vanderbilt (right midfoot sprain) and Christian Wood (left knee surgery) are out as expected.
• For the Pelicans, they have no injuries to report. Must be nice.
• Be sure to come join us over on our Playback channel and (hopefully) watch a Lakers win along with us!

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.