NEW ORLEANS — The Los Angeles Lakers were never going to duck the Denver smoke.
They heard the chatter over the 48 hours leading into the No. 7 vs. No. 8 Play-In Tournament game between them and the New Orleans Pelicans. They heard that they should purposely lose to avoid playing the No. 2 seed Nuggets. The defending champs swept the season series with the Lakers and have won eight straight games against them overall dating to January 2023.
As a result, a handful of national pundits suggested the Lakers would be better off losing Tuesday and taking their chances trying to win on Friday at home against either the No. 9 Sacramento Kings or the No. 10 Golden State Warriors (the Kings ended up advancing) — risking their season ending if they lost — and then playing the No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.
But that was never a consideration for the Lakers, who have won 12 of 15 games and are brimming with confidence. They planned for Tuesday’s game against the Pelicans as if their season was on the line — and they came out and played like it.
The result was a 110-106 win, a victory that elevated Los Angeles to the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and set up a rematch with their Rocky Mountain foes in the first round. Game 1 is Saturday night in Denver.
#2 @nuggets vs. #7 @Lakers pic.twitter.com/f6PsqcDKQh
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 17, 2024
Instead of running from the challenge that has stumped the Lakers for over a year, they’re running toward it.
“If they beat us, they beat us,” Anthony Davis told The Athletic of the Lakers’ mindset versus Denver. “We’re not ducking the smoke.”
The Lakers had several opportunities to fold on Tuesday, as they blew an 18-point second-half lead and were suddenly in a tied game with two minutes left. The Pelicans outscored them 40-22 from the 5:31 mark of the third quarter to the 1:58 mark of the fourth quarter to tie the score at 99. All five starters played at least 32 minutes, with the group appearing gassed down the stretch as the Lakers struggled to get stops and generate high-percentage offensive looks.
LeBron James (23 points on 6-of-20 shooting, nine rebounds and nine assists) and Davis (20 points on 6-of-16 shooting, 15 rebounds and three blocks) combined for rare off-shooting nights. Davis battled through back spasms that caused him to miss layups and limited his mobility defensively. That allowed Zion Williamson to dominate with downhill attacks for one of the best games of his career in his postseason debut, scoring 40 points and grabbing 11 rebounds before exiting in the final minutes with what The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported was a hamstring injury.
But the Lakers dug in defensively and made several crucial offensive plays over the final two minutes — most notably D’Angelo Russell’s corner 3-pointer in front of the Pelicans’ bench off an Austin Reaves drive-and-kick and Davis’ offensive rebound and subsequent free throws after being fouled — to survive and advance to the playoffs. Russell had 21 points and six assists, and Reaves posted 16 points, five rebounds and six assists.
“Just the grit, the grit of our group,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of what he learned Tuesday about his team. “They made their run. Threw some heavy blows at us. They kept swinging. We kept swinging back. Met force with force.”
Davis will have three full days to rest his back, which is an added benefit to the Lakers not having to play a second Play-In game on Friday and then, if they had won, a road playoff game on Sunday. Instead, they will enter the Denver series far fresher than they were in the Western Conference finals nearly a year ago after two six-game series against the Memphis Grizzlies and Warriors.
“I feel like I’ll be 100 percent as far as the back come Saturday,” Davis said.
The rest will also be important for James, who is still nursing a left ankle peroneal tendinopathy injury. The 39-year-old superstar said he’s readying himself to ramp up his workload. James’ defensive effort was apparent in both Pelicans matchups, absorbing blows from Williamson, rotating as the low man on defense and disrupting passing lanes with his shrewd anticipation.
“Ain’t no more pace,” James said. “Pace yourself for what? It’s now a sprint. It’s a sprint now. We already went through the marathon. … I’ll do whatever it takes. I mean, all the percentages and all that s***, it’s out the window.
“The season’s over. So it’s about just winning. Win the game.”
There are reasons to be more confident about the Lakers’ chances against the Nuggets this time around. They have the fifth-best record in the NBA and fourth-best record in the West since Feb. 1, when they beat the Boston Celtics on the road without James and Davis and kick-started their turnaround (though the Nuggets are second and first in those categories, respectively). The Lakers also have the third-ranked offense over that span. They’ve settled on a starting lineup that is 19-6 together — a 62-win pace.
A fresher squad can also log more minutes. Davis and James will almost surely play at least 42 minutes per game against Denver. The Lakers are nearly whole, too, with Jarred Vanderbilt the only notable player out of the lineup. There has been no update on Vanderbilt’s status, though he’s been ramping up his conditioning. The next step in his return-to-play plan is eventually contact activity and returning to practice.
“We’ve got a good group going right now, good rotation, good plan and guys are coming in ready to go,” James said.
Still, the biggest confidence boost for the Lakers would be notching a win over the Nuggets, with Game 1 often the road team’s best chance to steal a victory and set the tone for the series. There is undoubtedly a psychological element to the Lakers’ troubles against the Nuggets at this point. Once the game clock hits 6:00 or so in the fourth quarter, it seems the Lakers tense up and stop executing on both sides of the ball.
Ham said players will be off on Wednesday, but coaches will meet to go over Denver film and game-planning. The preparation already started days ago.
“Extremely (excited),” Ham said. “It’s an opportunity. It’s back to 0-0. Obviously, they’ve had a ton of success against our ball club, but there’s always a new day. … We feel comfortable, though. We like where we are, we like where the spirit of our group is. Everybody is chipping in and pitching in, excited about this challenge, this opportunity.
“And respect to Denver, they’re a hell of a ball club. There’s a reason why they’re defending champs. But we like our chances.”
James and Davis offered their preliminary thoughts on the rematch.
“It’s the defending champion,” James said. “They know what it takes. They know how to win. They’ve been extremely dominant on their home floor over the last few years. They’ve got an MVP on their team. They’ve got a closer on their team. They’ve got high-level players, high-IQ players. And they’ve got a hell of a coach.
“So we have to play mistake-free basketball. Make it tough on them. They’re gonna try to make it tough on us, obviously. But if we can play as great of a game as we can play, and they’re gonna play as great of a game as they play, it’s gonna come down to one or two possessions. And we’ll see who executes then.”
Davis emphasized the defensive side, which has been more of a struggle for the Lakers since the turn of the calendar. They rank just 21st in defensive rating since Feb. 1.
“We got to lay out hats on defense,” Davis said. “So it’s not going to be easy, but if we continue to have the faith and the trust in each other defensively, we can hold these guys especially to one shot and out of transition and in the half court. And do everything with pace. Play with a lot of pace. We found that when we play with a lot of pace, we’re able to be a great group.”
The Lakers will head to Denver either Thursday or Friday to acclimate to the altitude and get in at least one practice. Then they’ll face the ultimate barometer of how real their second-half progress is.
“I think we’re clicking at the right time,” Davis said. “Guys are playing well. Guys are very confident. Guys are feeling good. And we’re going to need it — especially against Denver.”