The Western Conference was as strong as ever during the 2023-24 NBA regular season. There are going to be two teams who won at least 46 games that will miss out on the postseason this year, as the NBA Play-In Tournament games are as star-studded as ever.
The first matchup will be the Los Angeles Lakers going on the road to face the New Orleans Pelicans. This will be a rematch of the regular season finale, which the Lakers won 124-108 to earn the No. 8 seed and drop the Pelicans into the seventh spot, flipping with the Phoenix Suns.
The winner of this game will earn the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and a first-round matchup with the Denver Nuggets. The loser will host the winner of the second game between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors for the No. 8 seed on Thursday.
Some NBA analysts have suggested that the Lakers should throw this game against the Pelicans so that they can avoid the Nuggets until the Western Conference Finals. That would be a very risky strategy, as Los Angeles hasn’t fared any better against Sacramento or Golden State this season.
Just qualifying for the NBA Playoffs this year is going to be difficult for the Lakers; trying to finagle their way around the standings will lead to a disaster. But, there are a lot of people confident they will find their way into the postseason.
One of those people is former NBA point guard, Eddie House. During an appearance on The Carton Show on Tuesday morning, House made his prediction for the Lakers vs. Pelicans game and he is expecting a huge showing from LeBron James.
James recorded his fifth triple-double of the season against the Pelicans in the season finale, scoring 28 points with 17 assists and 11 rebounds. He has been excellent against New Orleans all season, recording 8+ assists in all four matchups and 28+ points in three out of four.
House likely isn’t far off with his prediction of James having a big game, as the Pelicans haven’t figured out a way to slow him down consistently. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer has always had a knack for showing up when his team needs him most and he will need to do that once again to help get his Lakers into the postseason.
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