Darvin Ham, the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, shot down reports that the team thought about abandoning its play-in tournament match against the New Orleans Pelicans in order to avoid having to play the Denver Nuggets in the opening round of the playoffs.
In order to earn a spot against the No. 2 seed and reigning champion Nuggets in the Western Conference playoffs, the Lakers upset the Pelicans 110-106 on Tuesday. On Saturday, the best-of-seven series gets underway at 8:30 p.m. ET.
In addition to sweeping Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals of 2023, Denver enjoys an eight-game winning streak over the Lakers. The Nuggets split their four head-to-head games in the 2022–2023 regular season and won all three of their regular season encounters.
The Lakers last triumphed over the Nuggets on December 16, 2022.
Fortunately for Ham’s team, none of the previous eight losses were lopsided. Including a 113-111 setback in Game 4, three of the four losses to Denver in the conference finals last May were decided by six points or less.
The 2023–24 season opener for Los Angeles ended in losses of 119–107 on October 24, 114–106 on February 8, and 124–114 on March 2.
The Lakers have defeated the Nuggets and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic in their previous meeting, winning 12 of the previous 15 games, including Tuesday’s victory.
Los Angeles would have faced the Sacramento Kings at home on Friday in a game that might have decided their fate if they had lost to New Orleans on Tuesday. In the other play-in tournament game on Tuesday, the Kings defeated the Golden State Warriors. They will now take on the Pelicans, with the victor securing the eighth seed and a first-round series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.