Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Pelicans Preview
akers Finished Strong
The Los Angeles Lakers won 11 of their final 14 games to get to the 8-seed in the West. The goal was to avoid the Play-In Tournament, but getting to eighth allowed them two chances to win a game and make the next round. The Lakers come into the Play-In Tournament relatively healthy, Anthony Davis was listed as day-to-day but was quoted saying, “There’s no doubt I’m gonna play (on Tuesday)” to reporters after the Indiana game.
LeBron James leads the Lakers with 25.7 PPG, 8.3 APG and 1.3 steals per game. At age 39, he is averaging a career high in three point percentage, knocking down 41.0% of his attempts, and connecting on 2.1 threes per game. James scored 28 or more in the last three games of the season, including a 37 point game against the Grizzlies. Anthony Davis is the other star in Los Angeles, he is averaging 24.7 PPG and 12.6 RPG, he has a lingering back injury but all indications are that he will play here. Davis sat out the last game of the season, but had a 30 point, 11 rebound game in the previous matchup with Memphis. DeAngelo Russell had a strong season, he is also shooting over 40% from three and is averaging 18.0 PPG and 6.3 APG. Austin Reeves is another scorer on the wing, he gets 15.9 PPG to go with 5.5 APG.