NBA Rumors: Leaving the final game of the regular season with an injury, will Anthony Davis be in the lineup when the Los Angeles Lakers take for the floor for their NBA Play-In Tournament game?
Since February 1, the Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Even though they haven't made up much ground in the standings, in the last two months, the Lakers are tied for the third-best record in the NBA at 23-10. A big part of the Lakers' surge heading into the NBA Playoffs has been the availability of Anthony Davis.
For a player who has battled injury issues, AD has been relatively healthy this season. He played a career-high 76 games this year and even though he left the last game of the season with back and hip spasms, the early indications are that he'll be ready to go when the Lakers take the floor for the start of the NBA postseason.
After the regular season finale, it was clear that AD was kept out as a precaution as he made it clear he plans on being ready to play Thursday night when the Lakers take on the Pelicans in the 7th-8th Play-In Tournament matchup.
Anthony Davis called the push from Larry Nance Jr. a “dangerous play” but said there was “no doubt” he will be ready to play in the play-in game on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/WhFeDjm12o
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 14, 2024
How should the Los Angeles Lakers approach the NBA Play-In Tournament?
Heading into the NBA Play-In Tournament, there's been plenty of chatter about how the Lakers should approach their first matchup with the Pelicans. As the 8th seed, if the Lakers beat the Pelicans, they would enter the NBA Playoffs as the 7th seed and take on the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
However, if the Lakers lose to the Pelicans and then beat the winner between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors, they'd qualify for the postseason as the 8th seed and meet the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. While the Thunder may be the more favorable matchup on paper, I'm not sure the Lakers can play with fate that way.
There have been some outrageous takes that the Lakers should rest their star players in the first Play-In Tournament game in anticipation of getting the 8th seed. But that' seems too risky of a player. Sure, if the Lakers lose the Pelicans, they'll take it. However, with two shots to make the playoffs, I'm not sure the Lakers can simply forfeit one of those attempts.
Either way, it'll be interesting to watch it all unfold. At least for now, the expectation is that the Lakers are going to be as close to 100 percent healthy heading into their Play-In Tournament game against the Pelicans. That includes AD.