The Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans will play two days after the sides met in the final game of the 2023-24 regular season, but the stakes are significantly higher in Tuesday’s encounter. This is the 7-8 matchup in the Western Conference play-in tournament, with the winner getting the No. 7 seed and a matchup with the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers won Sunday to set up this rematch, and have won three of the four meetings this season between the two teams.
Anthony Davis and LeBron James are both considered probable for the Lakers. Brandon Ingram is available for the Pelicans as he continues to recover from a knee injury.
The Pelicans are 1.5-point favorites according to DraftKings Sportsbook with the total set at 224.5. New Orleans is -120 on the moneyline while Los Angeles is +100.
Lakers vs. Pelicans, 7:30 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Lakers +1.5
The Lakers are 19-28 ATS on the season after a win, while the Pelicans are 20-11-1 ATS after a loss. Los Angeles has been solid as a road underdog this season though, going 13-11 ATS in the category. New Orleans is 14-15 ATS as a home favorite.
In the history of the play-in tournament, the Lakers have not lost a game. They’ve advanced out of this matchup both times and avoided the “win or go home” scenario. I think James and Davis know the stakes here and will show out once again. The Lakers have gotten the better of the Pelicans in key situations every time this season, so I’ll take LA to cover as the underdog Tuesday.
Over/Under: Over 224.5
New Orleans is 20-20 to the over as the home team but Los Angeles is 26-14 to the over as the road team this season. More importantly, three of the four matchups between these sides have all gone over this total. Even though these playoff-type environments tend to result in low-scoring games, I’ll take the over to hit given the trends between these two teams.