On Sunday afternoon, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers clinched the number eight seed in the Western Conference playoff picture with a road win over the New Orleans Pelicans, a team they will coincidentally face in just 48 hours in the Play-In game, with the winner moving onto face the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs and the loser getting one more chance to stave off elimination. The Lakers have been struggling with inconsistency throughout much of the year but James and his teammates have stepped on the gas in recent weeks, ensuring that at the very least, Los Angeles will have two chances to win one game and make the postseason.
Of course, it was those same Nuggets who sent the Lakers home in an unceremonious four game sweep in last year's Western Conference Finals, leading some to wonder if Los Angeles should perhaps intentionally lose the game on Tuesday and try to win the next one, which would give them a much more favorable matchup in the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, sports media personality Skip Bayless of FS1 is not one of those people.
“If the Lakers “have to” play Denver in the first round, I got the Lakers this time. If LeBron can't close, Austin Reaves will,” wrote Bayless on his account on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
What should the Lakers prefer?
Of course, the general consensus is that the Lakers should try to win at all costs on Tuesday so that they won't be faced with a “win or go home” scenario vs either the Golden State Warriors or the Sacramento Kings–two teams that had their way with Los Angeles in 2023-24– on Friday evening from the Crypto.com Arena.
However, there is something to be said about a potential Lakers matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who the Lakers dominated throughout the regular season and whose youth and inexperience, as well as lack of size on the interior, make them a seemingly easier playoff opponent than the Nuggets.
Speaking of the Nuggets, Denver hasn't lost to the Lakers in well over a year, as Denver swept the regular season series this season after winning all four games, albeit each in close fashion, last year in the playoffs.
The counterpoint to the “prefer the Thunder” line of thinking is that, in order to accomplish their real goal of winning a championship, the Lakers will likely have to face the Nuggets at one point or another. In theory, it would be more favorable to do so at the present moment with LeBron James and Anthony Davis both relatively rested, as opposed to in a month from now when there will be more wear and tear on their bodies.
In any case, the first order of business is actually getting to the playoffs in some capacity. The Lakers will have a chance to do just that and set up a rematch with the Nuggets when they take on the Pelicans Tuesday evening at 7:30 PM ET.
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