NBA play-in predictions: Will Lakers advance? Can Warriors avoid elimination?

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The NBA’s play-in tournament begins Tuesday in the Western Conference. Who wins the Lakers-Pelicans matchup for a chance to play the defending champion Nuggets in the first round? And who avoids elimination — the Kings or Warriors? Our writers make their picks.

1. Lakers vs. Pelicans: Who wins?

Vincent Goodwill: Lakers. Whenever the Pelicans have played against the Lakers in a high-stakes game, Zion Williamson hasn’t shown up and his teammates followed suit. The Pelicans could’ve put themselves in solid playoff positioning and simply didn’t treat it with seriousness. Perhaps they fare better, but it’s hard to see them beating a Lakers team that will beat them up when they play small, and Zion can’t bully them. Zion needs a signature game, and we’re still waiting. See you guys in NOLA on Friday.

Tom Haberstroh: Pelicans. Sunday was little more than an exhibition for the Pels — it was Brandon Ingram’s feel-it-out game and Jonas Valančiūnas’ lemme-get-82-games-and-sub-me-out game. The Pelicans will be whole in this one and in front of the home crowd.

Ben Rohrbach: Lakers. Did you see what they did to the Pelicans on Sunday, when New Orleans had its first shot to clinch a guaranteed playoff seed? Same thing they did to them in the in-season tournament semifinals. When games matter, the Lakers put the Pelicans to bed early. That is the benefit of having LeBron James and Anthony Davis on their side. The former relishes in leveraging his experience over New Orleans’ Zion Williamson, once The Next LeBron James, and the latter does not mind flexing on his former team, either.

Stephen Curry and the Warriors eliminated the Kings last postseason. Can they do it again? (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

2. Warriors vs. Kings: Who wins?

Rohrbach: Warriors. We could overthink this and concoct some reason why the Kings’ youth and athleticism will win the day, but the Warriors are four-time champions, featuring Stephen Curry at the helm. Sacramento is missing two rotational cogs, Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter, both of whom boost what was a middling offense on the season. Besides, the Kings still have no solution…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-04-16 15:30:06

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