LeBron James’ quest for a fifth NBA championship starts tonight, as his Los Angeles Lakers begin the postseason on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA Play-In Tournament. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. on TNT.
If you want to tune in to tonight’s game but you don’t have cable, TNT is available to stream on DirecTV Stream, which comes with a free trial, or Sling TV (Orange plan), which offers a discount for your first month.
The path is a little more challenging than in years past. Win and they’re off to a first-round matchup against the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Lose and then play the winner of the Golden State-Sacramento Kings game for a shot at the eighth seed and a date with the No. 1 Oklahoma Thunder.
New Orleans is hoping Zion Williamson leads them to places the team imagined when they made him the No. 1 pick out of Duke in 2019. Once the most heralded rookie since James, Williamson had his most complete season as a pro, averaging 23 points in a career-high 70 games played and leading the Pelicans to their most wins in 15 years.
Here’s more information about how to watch the game:
- What: No. 7 New Orleans Pelicans vs. No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Play-In Tournament
- When: Tuesday, April 16, 2024
- Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern
- Where: Smoothie King Center | New Orleans, LA
- TV Channel: TNT
- How to stream: DirecTV Stream (free trial) or Sling TV (Orange plan, promotional offers)
- Cable channel finder: AT&T U-Verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, Cox, DIRECTV, Dish, Verizon Fios
Here’s a more detailed preview, courtesy of the Associated Press.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are back in the play-in tournament. So is Stephen Curry, as he and Golden State will be fighting for their season. And Jimmy Butler returns as well, after this round last year was the first step on Miami’s way to the NBA Finals.
The postseason — not technically the playoffs, yet — gets underway Tuesday with a pair of Western Conference matchups. The Lakers visit New Orleans with the winner securing the No. 7 seed and a series with defending champion Denver in Round 1. And then the Warriors go to Sacramento, an elimination game for both teams.
The Eastern Conference takes the stage Wednesday: Philadelphia plays host to Miami in a game to decide the No. 7 seed, and Atlanta visits Chicago with the season on the line for those clubs.
The Lakers forced a rematch of Sunday’s regular-season finale with a 128-104 victory in New Orleans that knocked the Pelicans out of the sixth seed. Now the Lakers expect the Pelicans to respond as if this were Game 2 of a playoff series.
“You win that first game and a team has multiple days to kind of sit on that feeling, sit with that taste in their mouth of defeat, so they’re going to be extremely ready for us and we have to come in with the same sense of urgency,” said the 39-year-old James, who is playing in his 21st NBA season.
The Lakers and Heat showed that the play-in can be a springboard to bigger and better things last year; the Lakers reached the Western Conference finals, the Heat reached the NBA Finals.
“We’re not the same group as last year,” Butler said. “We — I — are very confident in the guys that we do have, and we know what we’re capable of. We’ll see what we got whenever the time gets here.”
Golden State gets a short bus ride north for an elimination game against the Kings, on the same floor where the Warriors won a road Game 7 in Round 1 last season.
“We’re happy to have a shot,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.
So are the Kings, who had an up-and-down season — but have a chance to vanquish the memory of falling in the playoffs to the Warriors a year ago.
“Let’s frickin’ go get it,” Sacramento coach Mike Brown said.
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