Lakers vs Pelicans

The 77th game of New Orleans' 82-game regular season schedule brought a playoff feel to it from the opening tip in Los Angeles, an atmosphere that traveled ...

A pre-lottery slot of 8 would mean three teams (from pre-lotto spots 9 through 14 in the May 17 drawing) would have to leapfrog the Lakers in order to bump the pick out of the top 10. Cleveland, or Washington’s three-game road trip to Boston, Minnesota and Atlanta. There’s certainly been plenty of good news lately for New Orleans professional basketball, but there could be more on the way during next month’s NBA draft lottery – in the form of a first-round pick no one could’ve expected when the ’21-22 season began. For New Orleans to maintain the most optimal odds of seizing the Lakers’ draft pick (by the way, if it lands 11-30 of the first round, the pick conveys to Memphis), Los Angeles needs to remain in the No. 8 position. At the start of this season, any sane NBA analyst would’ve told you it was preposterous to believe Los Angeles might finish the campaign with one of the league’s 10 worst records, but through Friday’s games, only seven teams have a poorer mark than the 31-46 Lakers. So if the season ended today, Los Angeles would enter the May 17 draft lottery with a No. 8 pre-lottery slot, holding a 26.3 percent chance of winning a top-four pick (for the Pelicans) and 6.0 percent odds of bringing a No. 1 overall pick (to the Pelicans). Based on a series of trades that date back to the 2019 blockbuster headlined by Davis and Brandon Ingram, the Pelicans will get the Lakers’ 2022 first-round pick if the selection places in the top 10 of the draft lottery. Around midnight, Pelicans fans were ecstatic to see their team ultimately pull off a dramatic, 114-111 victory over the Lakers, capping a 3-0 sweep of the season series.

The April fool, if you will, as Lakers lose another to Pelicans.

trips to Phoenix, San Francisco, and Denver. I didn’t think it would really happen, which is why I did it then, because it was silly to think that they were really that bad. Back in December, when the Lakers were 16-18, I wrote about some other teams full of Hall of Famers who finished with losing records.

Despite getting 38 from LeBron James and 23 from Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers fell 114-111 in a crucial game to the New Orleans Pelicans.

"We talked to our guys about and we were like, 'Look, we've all played with the street lights out before. "Our mindset is to go 5-0 in these games, and let the chips fall where they may," Davis said. We have to win these games and we have to have that approach." Ingram said that energy was felt before the game and after as well. "I don't look at San Antonio at all," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of the final stretch. We don't play off hope and 'let's hope we win this game.' We have belief and I believe. "Until that moment, we'll know what our destiny is, but right now, we don't. So keep pushing forward." But by virtue of the Spurs holding the tiebreaker, the Lakers have to pick-up two games on San Antonio before the season's end to steal the final play-in spot. "No matter what's going on on the floor, it just feels like the ball bounces the other way. It's just the way it's been going." So that's the big picture." L. A. faced a crucial matchup against the Western Conference's No. 9 team in New Orleans, two games up on the No. 11 Lakers coming into the night.

Los Angeles is now a game out of the play-in tournament with just five games remaining.

The ball doesn’t always bounce in our favor. James was magnificent in front of the home crowd, scoring 38 points on 13-for-23 shooting to continue a stellar year. Davis had missed the last 18 starts because of a right midfoot sprain but returned with a fervor against the Pelicans, racking up 23 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

After the Lakers loss to the Pelicans on Friday, LeBron talked about what the defeat means for LA.

The Lakers would now have to complete their remaining five games two games better than the Spurs to make the play-in tournament. After leading through much of the fourth quarter, the Lakers offensively cratered. Friday's loss to the Pelicans is indeed worthy of a proper eulogy.

Is Lakers' Anthony Davis playing today vs. Nuggets? Ananth Pandian. • 6 min read. Anthony Davis Los Angeles Lakers. After a lengthy injury absence, Anthony Davis returned for the Los Angeles Lakers on April 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans.