2024 Play-In Tournament (West): #7 New Orleans Pelicans vs #8 Los Angeles Lakers

[jehosafats]

AD stepped on BI's foot at the 10:19 mark in the 3rd quarter. I could tell he was nursing something after that. Whatever happened late in the 4th quarter, I didn't see it. Turned out to be his lower back.

[EmpireFalls]

Game is a toss up too, per Vegas odds.

Poor Pelicans, from guaranteed playoff spot to possibly getting ousted by the Warriors.

Surprised to see even odds given what occurred today. Obviously it’ll be a different matchup on Tuesday and LA can’t possibly play that well and NO can’t possibly play that poorly again. But still that didn’t seem like two teams who belonged on the same floor together, plus Vegas loves giving the Lakers extra points to get bets on them.

Maybe AD uncertainty?

What did the lakers do that was "that well" ? I guess 55% from the field is pretty good but thats mostly ADs 13-17. They shot 37% from 3. Thats repeatable. Only +4 on FT attempts. Rebounding was even. They got 16 total points from the bench where the Pels got 37.

Just the utter dominance, knife thru butter stuff offensively. It won’t be that easy New Orleans has film and will adjust to it.

Importantly I think Zion was afraid of LeBron today and it showed. Two big games where he’s gotten absolutely taken out of the game and sonned by the 39 year old. If he plays angry and with a point to prove it’s a completely different game. Today LeBron got in his head from tip and it was a wrap, he had no idea what to do with a guy who has a strength advantage on him and got punked, played awful.

BI will be in rhythm too.

[Mamba Mentality]

Denver's like the KC Chiefs

Gotta go through them sooner or later.

Might as well do it while you're kinda fresh

That’s my thought process as well. If we’re gonna beat them it’s gonna be when we’re at our healthiest. Playing our best ball of the season too, it’s now or never.

[Marrrcuss]

Denver's like the KC Chiefs

Gotta go through them sooner or later.

Might as well do it while you're kinda fresh

That’s my thought process as well. If we’re gonna beat them it’s gonna be when we’re at our healthiest. Playing our best ball of the season too, it’s now or never.

I would have liked to have Vandy and Wood.

[zimpy27]

Denver's like the KC Chiefs

Gotta go through them sooner or later.

Might as well do it while you're kinda fresh

Not really. You want to play them later. Injury can happen or another team could beat them on a hot run.

It's probably more likely that the Lakers could get a key injury and have zero chance

Then Lakers lose anyway. Point is that Lakers need full health to win a championship regardless, they also need some injury to Denver to get past them IMO. So playing them later in the playoffs is better.

[zimpy27]

Lakers should honestly consider resting up this game and locking in to win at home to get the 8th seed.

7th seed goes against Denver, then winner of Minny and Suns..

8th seed goes against OKC, then winner of Clips and Mavs.


Yes it's riskier to do this but Lakers have serious problems against Denver and Winner of Minny+Suns could actually beat Denver in a series.

Denver has been masterful in beating the Lakers the past 7-8 games but maybe just maybe
1. D’Lo wont shoot below 15% from 3 this time?
2. D’Lo play better defense if not at least Gabe or SD would bother the shots of Murray?
3. KCP and MPJ won’t shoot 50% from 3?
4. Rui provide about 15 pts per game?

Lakers get killed by Denver because Jokic is a tier above Davis on talent but as a direct matchup is several tiers above Davis. Just the worse possible matchup for Davis.

Main advantage to Lakers this season is having Dinwiddie to defend Murray..

[tamaraw08]

Lakers should honestly consider resting up this game and locking in to win at home to get the 8th seed.

7th seed goes against Denver, then winner of Minny and Suns..

8th seed goes against OKC, then winner of Clips and Mavs.


Yes it's riskier to do this but Lakers have serious problems against Denver and Winner of Minny+Suns could actually beat Denver in a series.

Denver has been masterful in beating the Lakers the past 7-8 games but maybe just maybe
1. D’Lo wont shoot below 15% from 3 this time?
2. D’Lo play better defense if not at least Gabe or SD would bother the shots of Murray?
3. KCP and MPJ won’t shoot 50% from 3?
4. Rui provide about 15 pts per game?

Maybe lebron is healthier than 50ish % like he was in the playoffs?

True but Lebron was healthier in the regular season and can’t still Denver with the crappy defense of D’Lo and MPJ AND KCP shooting like Steph.

[Mamba Mentality]

Denver's like the KC Chiefs

Gotta go through them sooner or later.

Might as well do it while you're kinda fresh

That’s my thought process as well. If we’re gonna beat them it’s gonna be when we’re at our healthiest. Playing our best ball of the season too, it’s now or never.

I would have liked to have Vandy and Wood.

Vandy, yes. Could care less about Wood. Hayes has been playing well and Ham doesn’t need any more reasons to cut Rui’s minutes.

[Dr Aki]

Not really. You want to play them later. Injury can happen or another team could beat them on a hot run.

It's probably more likely that the Lakers could get a key injury and have zero chance

Then Lakers lose anyway. Point is that Lakers need full health to win a championship regardless, they also need some injury to Denver to get past them IMO. So playing them later in the playoffs is better.

Vando and Wood aren't making a difference, not with the ramp up needed to get them playing at an acceptable playoff level.

An extra month isn't going to change the rotation now.

We're lucky we even got Vincent back.

[zimpy27]

It's probably more likely that the Lakers could get a key injury and have zero chance

Then Lakers lose anyway. Point is that Lakers need full health to win a championship regardless, they also need some injury to Denver to get past them IMO. So playing them later in the playoffs is better.

Vando and Wood aren't making a difference, not with the ramp up needed to get them playing at an acceptable playoff level.

An extra month isn't going to change the rotation now.

We're lucky we even got Vincent back.

DLo, Reaves, LeBron, Rui, Davis -- Dinwiddie, Prince, Hayes
That's the squad that matters now, not expecting Vando or Wood back. Vincent/Reddish are non-factors in rotation.

This team is good enough if they can stay healthy against any team but Denver.

[NyKnicks1714]

Something says New Orleans to me right now. This blowout was pretty embarrassing, and it's going to give them extra motivation and something to prove. Lakers also have a tendency to snatch drama from the jaws of inertia, and facing a do-or-die play-in game instead of winning a game all signs point to them winning seems appropriate.

I also think Willie Green will figure out a way to get Zion involved.

[Mrakar]

Chances of Pels winning this are 0%. Pels are bad at home and Lakers are worse possible matchup. Add "must-win" situation to that and it is script we saw multiple times this season. Even if Davis isn't playing pels are not winning this. And if everything goes bad for Lakers zebras will help.

And yea, there is no chance Lakers are tanking this to avoid Denver. Its to risky and they need to go trough Denver anyway if they want to win it all.


Now we should reflect on Pels loss to Spurs couple days ago, or one of the multiple blown 20pt leads during the season
Its fishing time.

[CodeBreaker]

Lakers win just to get roflstomped by Denver

[tamaraw08]

Then Lakers lose anyway. Point is that Lakers need full health to win a championship regardless, they also need some injury to Denver to get past them IMO. So playing them later in the playoffs is better.

Vando and Wood aren't making a difference, not with the ramp up needed to get them playing at an acceptable playoff level.

An extra month isn't going to change the rotation now.

We're lucky we even got Vincent back.

DLo, Reaves, LeBron, Rui, Davis -- Dinwiddie, Prince, Hayes
That's the squad that matters now, not expecting Vando or Wood back. Vincent/Reddish are non-factors in rotation.

This team is good enough if they can stay healthy against any team but Denver.

I’ve been hearing good reviews about Vincent’s sticky defense and ability to navigate through screens from LakerNation. If this is true and he can somehow shoots 33% from 3 and not 14% from DLo and his crappy defense, they might have a chance imo.

[tamaraw08]

Then Lakers lose anyway. Point is that Lakers need full health to win a championship regardless, they also need some injury to Denver to get past them IMO. So playing them later in the playoffs is better.

Vando and Wood aren't making a difference, not with the ramp up needed to get them playing at an acceptable playoff level.

An extra month isn't going to change the rotation now.

We're lucky we even got Vincent back.

DLo, Reaves, LeBron, Rui, Davis -- Dinwiddie, Prince, Hayes
That's the squad that matters now, not expecting Vando or Wood back. Vincent/Reddish are non-factors in rotation.

This team is good enough if they can stay healthy against any team but Denver.

I’ve been hearing good reviews about Vincent’s sticky defense and ability to navigate through screens from LakerNation. If this is true and he can somehow shoots 33% from 3 and not 14% from DLo and his crappy defense, they might have a chance imo.

[Potential]

Pelicans might just win this 1

[tamaraw08]

Lakers should honestly consider resting up this game and locking in to win at home to get the 8th seed.

7th seed goes against Denver, then winner of Minny and Suns..

8th seed goes against OKC, then winner of Clips and Mavs.


Yes it's riskier to do this but Lakers have serious problems against Denver and Winner of Minny+Suns could actually beat Denver in a series.

Denver has been masterful in beating the Lakers the past 7-8 games but maybe just maybe
1. D’Lo wont shoot below 15% from 3 this time?
2. D’Lo play better defense if not at least Gabe or SD would bother the shots of Murray?
3. KCP and MPJ won’t shoot 50% from 3?
4. Rui provide about 15 pts per game?

Lakers get killed by Denver because Jokic is a tier above Davis on talent but as a direct matchup is several tiers above Davis. Just the worse possible matchup for Davis.

No doubt Jokic dominated everyone on sight last playoffs but one player cannot carry a team by himself. The young Lebron was awesome but got swept by the Spurs. Eventually beat the Warriors because he got help from Kyrie.
Murray actually outscored Jokic during that series with his 32.5pts, 6 assists , 2.8 steals and 5 Rebs shooting 40.5% from 3.
MPJ AND KCP also shot above 42% from 3. Compare that to DLo who shot 13% from 3, James also shot under 27% and they lost by an average of 5.5pts/game.
Main advantage to Lakers this season is having Dinwiddie to defend Murray..

[tamaraw08]

Something says New Orleans to me right now. This blowout was pretty embarrassing, and it's going to give them extra motivation and something to prove. Lakers also have a tendency to snatch drama from the jaws of inertia, and facing a do-or-die play-in game instead of winning a game all signs point to them winning seems appropriate.

I also think Willie Green will figure out a way to get Zion involved.

I see the Pelicans playing with a lot of energy and leading big early but the Lakers try to rally and trim the lead by mid 3rd quarter and it'll be close in the final 6 minutes or so.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

I am a conspiracy theorist. The Broadcasters make millions more money LeBron and the Lakers get a playoff series. Broadcaster money eventually translates into money for the league. The commissioner could let the Pelicans win because the League gets a 2nd chance to get the Lakers into the Playoffs by having the Lakers beat the Winner of Warriors Kings. I do not think the commissioner will take any chances. I think the Commissioner will order the refs to rig the game for the Lakers to win which would lead to a highly rated Lakers Nuggets series.

I do think the Pelicans are the better team but not so much better that the refs will have a problem making sure that the Lakers win.

Where can I place a bet of freethrow differential?

[nzahir]

Lakers should honestly consider resting up this game and locking in to win at home to get the 8th seed.

7th seed goes against Denver, then winner of Minny and Suns..

8th seed goes against OKC, then winner of Clips and Mavs.


Yes it's riskier to do this but Lakers have serious problems against Denver and Winner of Minny+Suns could actually beat Denver in a series.

Denver has been masterful in beating the Lakers the past 7-8 games but maybe just maybe
1. D’Lo wont shoot below 15% from 3 this time?
2. D’Lo play better defense if not at least Gabe or SD would bother the shots of Murray?
3. KCP and MPJ won’t shoot 50% from 3?
4. Rui provide about 15 pts per game?

Lakers get killed by Denver because Jokic is a tier above Davis on talent but as a direct matchup is several tiers above Davis. Just the worse possible matchup for Davis.

Main advantage to Lakers this season is having Dinwiddie to defend Murray..

1) We are a different team with DLo playing well. If he isn't, we just aren't good enough to compete with the top end teams. Hoping he is locked in and we have a plan to have him involved and confident. The last few games before today has been a bit discouraging tbh.
2) Dlo is just not a very physical defender and the issue is neither is Reaves. Probably need a 3rd guard in there for certain matchups
3) Hopefully, but we are also selling out at times and our scheme is not the best for 3 pt shooters
4) Rui literally did give 15 ppg last WCF lol. And he had to defend Jokic a lot and did a decent job. Rui does seem more confident in his 3 ball and shooting it very well, especially the last 3-4 months since Jan

Jokic is above AD and sadly this isn't the same young AD that was much more agile and quick. He has also bulked up a bit to play C. But AD should still be taking advtange and getting Jokic moving. AD had some fine numbers tbh, but defensively couldn't do too much (but almost nobody can)

Is Dinwiddie really going to be able to provide much on defense vs Murray?

Vincent is probably the best bet there, but he has been a god awful shooter. Idk what happened. Still a small sample, but we seem to have gotten swinddled again by Miami guards