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Los Angeles Lakers vs New Orleans Pelicans: Who is going to the playoffs tonight?
The New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers are fighting for the seventh seed in the Western Conference tonight at the Smoothie King Center in The Big Easy.
The Lakers have all the experience
The Los Angeles Lakers finished the regular season in eighth place in the Western Conference with a 47-35 record. They ended the season in good form, winning six of the last eight games. The Lakers are second in the league, shooting 49.9% from the field, and are ranked eighth, shooting 37.6% from three-point territory. LeBron James leads the team with 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game, followed by Anthony Davis, who averages 24.7 points and 12.6 rebounds per game.
The Pelicans failed just short of the top 6 teams in the conference
The New Orleans Pelicans finished seventh in the Western Conference with a 49.33 record. They won four of the last five games to close out the regular season. New Orleans is ninth in the NBA, shooting 48.6% from the field, and is ranked fourth, shooting 38.3% from deep. Zion Williamson leads the team with 22.9 points per game, while Brandon Ingram averages 20.8.
Betting Trends
The Lakers have won 5 of the last 6 games against the Pelicans. LA is 11-3 SU in the last 14 games overall, 5-0 SU in the last five road games and 5-0 SU in the last five games against teams from the Southeast Division. New Orleans is 4-1 SU in their last five games overall, 12-5 SU in the last 17 games against teams from the Eastern Conference and 6-1 SU in the last seven games played on Tuesday.
Prediction and Conclusion
The Lakers visit the Pelicans in the play-in tournament, and the team that wins this game will be the seventh seed in the Western Conference and will face the defending champions, the Denver Nuggets, in the opening playoff round. Interestingly, the Lakers defeated the Pelicans 124-108 in New Orleans in the last game of the regular season. That was the first loss after four wins for the Pels, which cost them a playoff berth. They finished with the same record as the Phoenix Suns but finished just under the line. This will be a real test for Zion Williamson, who has a chance to prove that he can be the leader of this team and win an important game. The Lakers reached the conference finals last season coming out of the play-in tournament, and the experience is on their side. We do not have to talk about all LeBron James has been through. Anthony Davis is expected to be the key player in this matchup, as he will play against the team where he spent the first seven seasons of his career. The Pelicans have the home-court advantage, but everything else goes in the Lakers’ favor, and LA will clinch the playoffs tonight.
