Los Angeles Lakers vs New Orleans Pelicans Odds – Pelicans Open as Slight Favorites in 7-vs-8 Play-In Game
By Sascha Paruk in NBA Basketball
Updated: April 16, 2024 at 6:05 am EDTPublished:
- The Los Angeles Lakers will visit the New Orleans Pelicans in the 7-vs-8 Play-In Game in the West
- The Lakers just beat the Pels by 16 on Sunday afternoon
- See the Lakers vs Pelicans odds for the 2024 Play-In Tournament on Tuesday, April 16
The Los Angeles Lakers (47-35, 19-21 away) ended their regular season with an impressive 124-108 road win over the New Orleans Pelicans (49-33, 21-19 home) on Sunday afternoon, and the two teams will stay in NOLA for the 7-vs-8 Play-In Game in the Western Conference on Tuesday night.
The winner of Tuesday’s game will clinch the #7 seed in the West portion of the NBA playoff bracket and a date with the #2 Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs. The loser will face the winner of Golden State vs Sacramento on Friday.
Los Angeles Lakers vs New Orleans Pelicans Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Lakers | +1 (-110) | -105 | O 223.5 (-110) |
| New Orleans Pelicans | -1 (-110) | -115 | U 223.5 (-110) |
The Pelicans have opened as slight -115 favorites for Tuesday’s rematch at the Smoothie King Center. The Lakers come back at -105, while the spread favors the Pels by a single point.
Odds as of April 14 at DraftKings. See where is DraftKings legal in the North America.
Lakers Dominate Pelicans on Sunday
The Pelicans could have avoided going the Play-In route with a win over Los Angeles on Sunday. Instead, the Lakers put the boots to NOLA with a 123-108 win, led by 30 points and 11 rebounds from Anthony Davis. The Lakers are now 3-1 against the Pelicans this season.
New Orleans only win over the Lakers was a 129-109 home victory on Dec. 31, propelled by 26 points apiece from Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, plus 22 points and nine assists from CJ McCollum.
New Orleans has only made the playoffs once in the last five years, falling to Phoenix (4-2) in the first round in 2022.
The Lakers made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals last year as the #7 seed, Darvin Ham’s first season on the bench. After bouncing Memphis (4-2) in the first round and Golden State (4-2) in the second, Los Angeles was swept 4-0 by eventual NBA-champion Denver.
Ingram Returns for Pelicans
Some good news for the Pelicans: Brandon Ingram (20.9 PPG, 5.8 APG, 5.1 RPG) returned from nearly a month-long absence on Sunday, scoring 13 points in just 23 minutes of action.
Ingram has been out since March 21 with a knee injury, missing 11 games in total. New Orleans managed a 7-5 record in his absence.
No other Pelicans were listed on Sunday’s injury report.
Los Angeles is mostly healthy heading into the postseason. Christian Wood (6.9 PPG) and Jarred Vanderbilt (5.2 PPG) missed Sunday’s game with knee and foot injuries, respectively, but all of their top-six scorers enter the playoffs without any injury designations.
The Lakers are currently +4000 in the NBA championship odds, well ahead of the untested Pelicans at +7400. Los Angeles is also well ahead of NOLA in the NBA conference odds, sitting at +1400 to win the West, compared to the Pelicans at +4000.
Managing Editor
Sascha has been working in the sports-betting industry since 2014, and quickly paired his strong writing skills with a burgeoning knowledge of probability and statistics. He holds an undergraduate degree in linguistics and a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia.
