LeBron's Lakers take on Pelicans as NBA play-in tips off
LeBron James will be out to extend his 21st NBA campaign on Tuesday when his Los Angeles Lakers open the NBA play-in tournament against the New Orleans Pelicans, the winner booking a playoff meeting with the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers closed the regular
season with a dominant victory over the Pelicans on Sunday.
James said the Lakers can't
afford a let-down against a Pelicans team eager to turn the tables.
"They're going to be
extremely ready for us, and we have to come in with the same sense of
urgency," said James, who at 39 remains a formidable force in the league.
The losing team will get one more
chance to reach the playoffs, taking on the winning team from Tuesday's game
between the ninth-seeded Sacramento Kings and 10th-placed Golden State Warriors
for a first-round meeting with Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City.
Last season the Lakers came
through the play-in to reach the Western Conference finals, where they were
swept by Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.
The Miami Heat did even better
out of the play-in, earning the eighth seed in the East and reaching the NBA
Finals where they also succumbed to Denver.
The Heat will be trying to
retrace that path when they travel to Philadelphia on Wednesday to play the
76ers -- the winner booking a first-round meeting with Eastern Conference second
seeds the New York Knicks.
"We've had some great
battles with (Miami)," 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. "I always expect
that versus them."
Nurse was confident that reigning
NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid, who sat out the final game of the regular
season to rest his surgically repaired knee, would be "ready to go"
against Miami.
The Sixers are 31-8 with Embiid
playing this season.
The loser of that game will play
the winner of Wednesday's Atlanta-Chicago contest for the eighth and final
playoff berth in the East -- and a first-round meeting with the top-seeded
Boston Celtics.
Embrace
it
In New Orleans on Sunday, James
posted a triple-double and spearheaded the Lakers' defensive effort on Pelicans
big man Zion Williams.
"He's a beast," James
said of Williamson, who is trying to lead New Orleans to the playoffs for the
first time since 2022.
But the Lakers' might be more
concerned on Tuesday with the status of their own star Anthony Davis, who
hobbled out of Sunday's win in the final minutes, saying his back "locked
up" after he took a shove.
The Warriors and Kings will be
fighting for their post-season lives in Tuesday's second game in Sacramento.
Warriors star Stephen Curry
scored 50 points in game seven to lead Golden State to victory over the Kings
in the first round last year.
But the teams have split their
four meetings this season, including the Warriors' one-point loss in Sacramento
in November in a game they led by 24.
In fact, the last three
regular-season games between the Warriors and Kings were decided by one point.
"You can't be intimidated by
what's in front of you, you've just got to embrace it," Warriors
sharpshooter Klay Thompson said. "It's exciting - we've got a great shot
to win in Sac, and then don't look ahead, just try to take care of business in Sacramento."
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