Lakers know Pelicans present problems in rematch, but so does complacency
Dan Woike April 15, 2024
The Lakers are going to have to defend against CJ MCollum, the Pelicans guard who races into three-point shots from all angles on the court.
The Lakers are going to have to defend against
to have guard forward
Brandon Ingram, their former
first-round draft
pick, who has become one of the best tough-shot makers in the NBA.
The Lakers are going to have defend against Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III on the perimeter, two capable three-point shooter
s
. The Lakers are going to have to defend against Zion Williamson, the explosively athletic big man with the uncommon combination of size, speed and strength.
Youd think that would be enough to deal with before their play-in tournament game with the Pelicans
on
Tuesday in New Orleans. Instead, the Lakers might have to defend against something else.
Complacency.
After dominating the Pelicans on Sunday duruing a 124-108 victory in a game both teams desperately wanted to win, some
NBA followers
,
like such as
ESPNs Mike Greenberg, have suggested that the Lakers lose on purpose Tuesday in order to avoid a first-round matchup with Denver.
Greenberg, on ESPNs Get Up
show,
said the risk of
introducing falling into
a single-elimination game against either the Warriors or the Kings was less than the risk
from of
playing Denver in the first round acting as if the Lakers can simply beat the Pelicans
on
Tuesday should they want to.
The winner between the Lakers and the Pelicans will open the playoffs Saturday at Denver. The loser
in of
that game will play the winner of Sacramento-Golden State at home on Friday with a chance to face top-seeded Oklahoma City.
While theres some natural looking ahead that occurs when the playoff bracket is set,
postgame on Sunday, Lakers
players like LeBron James knew the Lakers were basically in a playoff series
where that
they needed to win the first two games on the road.
And after winning road Game 1s last year in the first and second rounds, the Lakers lost Game 2 twice neither being particularly close.
You dont get too high on one win because you have to come back and play again, James cautioned
Sunday after the Lakers’ win in New Orleans
. Tuesdays game is going to be extremely hard, extremely difficult, extremely physical. Ive always known that, when you play a playoff series and I look at this like a two-game playoff series if you win that first game, a team has multiple days to kind of sit on that feeling, or sit with that taste in their mouth of defeat. So theyre going to be extremely ready for us and we have to come in with the same sense of urgency that we had the previous game.
The Lakers, though, have good reasons to feel positive
ly
about where theyre at. Theyd won nine of 10 games before illness and injury kept them from being whole in losses against Minnesota and Golden State. They stumbled in an ugly win Friday before cruising on Sunday.
You could just feel the vibe when we did our walk-through yesterday at the hotel,” coach Darvin Ham sais Sunday. “We watched film. A lot of guys were disappointed in the way we kind of didn’t completely drop the rope by some mistakes we made in that Memphis game. Just trying to make sure we’re as tight as possible on both sides of the ball in terms of our execution. So we wanted to come out early and set a tone defensively. And also set a tone offensively by not settling. Defensively, giving multiple efforts.
At the foreground was James, who took on the responsibility of guarding Williamson.
I just want to win so whatever the game presents itself for me to be, if it needs me to be more attacking and scoring range, or if it needs me to be more of a set-up guy, if it needs me to be more of a defender, I got to do it all, James said. I am a Swiss Army knife so I got to do it all on the floor and none of its predetermined.
The only thing, the Lakers have said, they can control is the game in front of them. And when it comes to tempting fate beyond that, the Lakers cant risk anything.
Up-and-down season, Anthony Davis said. We had our highs. We had our lows. We had our share of injuries. Like I said, 12 games over .500. Obviously we don’t want to be in this position, but we are. We’re gonna make the best of it one at a time starting Tuesday.
