The Los Angeles Lakers will take on the New Orleans Pelicans tonight to secure the seventh seed in the stacked Western Conference, which will see them matched up with the defending Champions, the Denver Nuggets, in the first round of the playoffs. The Pelicans will go into the contest with the better regular season record (49-33) and home advantage, but most postseason experts are picking the Lakers to get the job done. Former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce also joined the bandwagon of experts to predict an easy win for the LA side at Smoothie King Center tonight.
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According to a recent ESPN poll, 7 in 10 postseason experts believe that the Lakers will go through to the playoffs after tonight’s game. Paul Pierce explained why such an overwhelming majority of talking heads are picking the Lakers over a Pelicans side that has consistently maintained a better record than the West Coast team all season long. “I don’t give the Pelicans much of a chance. I just think they have been thoroughly dominated by the Lakers all season long, 3-1 by an average of what 15 points a game. LeBron [James] just looked at them like a piece of chicken and ate them all up,” Pierce said.
“He [LeBron] just went to the basket at will [against the Pelicans]. And this is the time of the year where you’re gonna see a motivated LeBron, who understands the moment…I believe the Lakers get this in convincing fashion actually,” the 46-year-old added. However, he did touch upon Anthony Davis’ availability for the game. Pierce declared that the Pels have no chance if AD suits up for the game, which is the likely thing to happen.
Pierce’s argument seems pretty credible if you take a look at the numbers. The Lakers have won the season series against the Pelicans 3-1, with their latest victory coming in the month of April. The two team’s first encounter this season was in December in a blowout In-Season Tournament game at Crypto.com Arena, which set the tone for the season. The Lakers ousted the Pelicans 133-89, with LeBron James tallying 30 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds in just 23 minutes, shooting 9-for-12 from the field. That should tell you why Pierce thinks that the Lakers are a bad matchup for NOLA.
However, the Pelicans should be confident in the run their tandem had facilitated after the All-Star break. Before their recent slump, the Zion Williamson-led team was 5th in the Conference at one point. Their 20-point win over the Lakers at the end of 2023 also proves that they can certainly get it done against King James’ troops.
However, the most important thing that separates the Pelicans from the Lakers is their postseason experience. The Lakers are miles ahead of the Pels in dealing with the pressure of big games such as this one. Nevertheless, the form Zion has shown this season, he will certainly not go down at home without a compelling fight.
