Who: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Los Angeles Lakers
When: Sunday, March 1, 8:00 p.m ET
Where: Smoothie King Center
How to watch: ESPN
The Pelicans’ playoff push in recent weeks has been built largely on beating teams level with or below them in the standings with few exceptions. A win on Sunday over the Lakers, though, could serve as another springboard into the final six weeks of play.
The necessity for a win increased even further after a slate of results on Saturday that could hardly have been worse for New Orleans. Most notably, Los Angeles laid a big egg in the front end of its back-to-back against Memphis, snapping its 18-game road winning streak against Western Conference teams with a 105-88 loss.
San Antonio also survived late against Orlando to earn a victory as well. The only result to fall in the Pelicans’ favor on the night was Portland falling to Atlanta. Heading into Sunday’s game, New Orleans sits 2.5 games back of the Grizzlies in the eighth seed, a half-game above the Spurs and a game up on the Trail Blazers.
With Zion Williamson in the fold, the Pelicans played the Lakers closer than they have all season in last week’s meeting. Finally having an answer for Anthony Davis, at least for one night, allowed New Orleans to match up with the Lakers a bit better. The difference in that game, though, was LeBron James have a season-best performance to make up for Davis’ struggles.
At home, in front of a sold out crowd, Sunday could be a magical night that could spark the team the rest of the season.
