Lakers beat the Pelicans in the final game of the regular season.
In the final game of the regular season, the Lakers were able to come out on top against the short-handed Pelicans, beating New Orleans 110–98. In order to have avoided the play-in tournament, the Lakers needed a win and the Trail Blazers’ loss to move out of the play-in. The Trail Blazers were able to win their matchup against the Nuggets this afternoon, escaping the play-in and set to face Denver in the first round. With tonight’s final win of the season, the Lakers final record of the year moved to 42–30, representing Los Angeles in the playoffs as the 7th seed, looking to defend their championship at the start of the play-in tournament.
The Lakers will now face off against the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night in a 7th vs 8th seed matchup with the loser of the game to face the winner of the 9th versus the 10th seed game, being the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs. The headline matchup of Lebron James versus Stephen Curry will be the 5th time in seven years that James and Curry will have seen each other in the playoffs. After today’s win, LeBron James gave praise to Stephen Curry saying “The MVP of our league this year” as they are set to face them in the first game of the play-in.
In today’s win, LeBron James took a scary fall late in the 4th quarter, which took him out for the rest of the game. After the game, James spoke of that play and the health of his ankle, saying: “It was a tweak, but I’ll be fine.” ensuring he will be ready to go this Wednesday in the play-in matchup against Golden State. In tonight’s win, James finished with a game-high 25 points on 11 for 22 (50%) shooting from the field. James was also able to add 6 assists and 3 steals in his 27 minutes of action in tonight’s final regular-season game. James was asked about his feelings surrounding this banged-up Lakers team heading into the playoffs saying:
“I look forward to the challenge. It’s another challenge in the postseason and I’m looking forward to it.”
Andre Drummond has shown in the past few games that he can complement LeBron James extremely well come playoff time, as it showed in tonight’s win. With James being one of the best passers the NBA has ever seen, he set up many opportunities tonight drawing the defense to him and dish it to Drummond on the pick and roll. In the final game of the regular season, Drummond had himself another double-double, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds, including 2 blocks and 2 steals on 6 for 11 (54.5%) shooting from the field.
In tonight’s win, Anthony Davis played a Lakers high 30 minutes as the team gave him more minutes to get him ready for the playoffs. Davis finished 2nd on the team in scoring, ending the night with 14 points and 5 rebounds on 5 for 12 (41.6%) shooting from the field goal. After tonight’s win, Anthony Davis was asked about the success of the Lakers season and where they currently stand in the seeding saying:
“We’re not happy where we are, we know we can be better. Injuries took a toll on us this season. When we’re healthy, we see where we can be. We won’t call this successful until we raise a banner. It’s only unsuccessful if we don’t win it all, that’s how I’ve viewed it every year in the league.”
If the Lakers win in the play-in matchup against the Warriors, they would then face the 2nd seed Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs. In the last matchup against the Suns, the Lakers were able to surge past Phenix without crucial LeBron James and Dennis Schröder because of a huge 42 point performance from Anthony Davis. No matter where the Lakers end up, look for them to come out with a lot of energy to defend their crown. IT’S PLAYOFFS TIME!