Filip Tomic
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I finished the regular season by landing a +878 NBA mega parlay as well as connecting on 9 of 11 individual picks. Let’s hope the good form carries onto the NBA play-in tournament as well. We have the Lakers and Pelicans squaring off for the 2nd time in 2 days to decide who takes the 7th seed in the West. Tip-off from Smoothie King Center is at 7:30 pm ET on TNT and I’ve prepared a Lakers vs Pelicans Same Game Parlay to add some extra excitement to the matchup. Head our to our NBA picks to get our predictions for every NBA play-in tournament game as well as every matchup throughout the NBA postseason.
Pelicans ML (-106)
LeBron James over 1.5 made threes (-148)
Brandon Ingram to score 20+ points (+115)
Same Game Parlay odds: +466
New Orleans Pelicans ML over Los Angeles Lakers (-106)
Am I the only one who thinks the Lakers will tank this game in order to avoid playing the Nuggets in the first round? I mean, think about it. Would you rather face the defending champions or an inexperienced Thunder side that you beat 3 times in 4 regular season meetings? I think this makes perfect sense for both sides. The Pels get into the postseason, while the Lakers go head-to-head with the Kings or Warriors for the 8th seed.
LA did dominate the game on Sunday in this same building and they are by far the better team in my opinion, but sometimes you have to be smart in order to go deep in the postseason. Facing OKC in the 1st round would mean the Lakers cannot play Denver before the Western Conference Finals, which I believe is exactly where those 2 teams will meet for the 2nd consecutive season. Back the Pelicans to win Tuesday’s play-in game.
Read our full Los Angeles Lakers vs New Orleans Pelicans predictions
LeBron James over 1.5 made threes (-148)
The King was focused way more on getting his teammates involved on Sunday as he dished out 17 assists in the win, setting a new career-high in the first half for assists. Although he went 0-for-2 from downtown in that game, I believe James will be much more active trying to score the basketball on Tuesday. He’s been shooting it quite well from downtown in his last 10 games, knocking down over 45% of attempts. In 4 meetings this season with the Pels, he’s connecting on 55% of his field-goal attempts and 60% of his threes. The stakes in this game are much higher than 2 days ago, so I’m of the opinion that the Pelicans will slow down the tempo as much as possible, as we saw what happened when they tried to run with LA. If that happens, LeBron should be forced to shoot way more often in the halfcourt offense.
We also have our Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings predictions for tonight’s other matchup
Brandon Ingram to score 20+ points (+115)
Ingram provided a huge boost for the Pelicans’ offense in his first game back from injury. He finished with just 13 points, but in 23 minutes played he shot 6-for-9 from the field. As time goes on he will gradually increase his productivity, and prior to going down with his knee injury, Ingram was the team’s 2nd leading scorer behind Zion Williamson. C.J. McCollum has taken on some of his responsibilities in his absence, but order should be restored in the coming games and weeks to come. Ingram wrapped up the regular season averaging 21.7 points per game at the Smoothie King Center, on over 51% efficiency from the field and 44% from downtown. Against the team that traded him away a few years back, he’s averaging 22.6 points per game in the last 10 meetings. Scoring 20 shouldn’t be too difficult here, as he’s done it 7 times during that 10-game stretch, and the Pelicans will likely need a lift from him to get the victory here.
