With a little more than a month left before the start of the 2023-24 NBA season, Pelicans.com writer Jim Eichenhofer shares an opponent and matchup breakdown of the Top 10 games for Pelicans fans to watch at the Smoothie King Center this season.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS AT NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
Sunday, Dec. 31 (6 p.m.)
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Why it’s on the list
New Orleans has long been known as one of the most festive cities in North America. New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest party evenings on the entire calendar. Put those two together, then add a visit from the star-studded (and locally-despised) Los Angeles Lakers, and you have a night Pelicans fans began anticipating from the moment the NBA’s schedule was released this summer. After reaching the Western Conference finals despite being a No. 7 seed last season, the Lakers return the vast majority of a roster that surged after the trade deadline and All-Star break. The purple and gold are once again headlined by 20-year pro LeBron James and former New Orleans All-Star power forward Anthony Davis, along with USA Basketball standout Austin Reaves.
Pelicans players to watch
Brandon Ingram always seems to be at his best on the hardwood while facing his previous NBA team, sporting a career scoring average of 25.5 vs. the Lakers, the most points per game for Ingram against anyone (by a significant margin – his next-highest career tally is 22.3 vs. Houston). Fellow New Orleans starting forward Zion Williamson has also produced a series of quality performances against the Lakers, averaging 27.8 points over five meetings, to go with 7.8 rpg and 3.8 apg.
Where it falls on the New Orleans schedule
Home games during the timeframe between Christmas and early January are highly coveted by NBA teams, because they tend to draw big crowds, regardless of opponent. Many hoops fans are off from school or work in that period. With that being said, the schedulemaker did the Pelicans a solid in 2023-24, granting New Orleans a five-game homestand from Dec. 23-Jan. 2 (the Lakers visit is game No. 4 of the stretch). There are also a pair of multi-day breaks between games (Dec. 24-25, Dec. 29-30) for maximum holiday rest time.
Other 2023-24 games between these teams
Friday, Feb. 9, New Orleans at LA Lakers (NBA TV)
Sunday, April 14, LA Lakers at New Orleans
Brandon Ingram (22 points) Highlights vs. Los Angeles Lakers 3/14/2023
Series history
Several of the most satisfying New Orleans victories in recent years have come against the dreaded Lakers, including a 3-0 sweep in 2021-22 that helped shove Los Angeles out of even West play-in contention. Overall though, the Lakers hold a significant upper hand at 44-27 in the all-time series, powered partly by a three-season stretch from 2010-11 through 2012-13 in which Los Angeles rang up 11 straight head-to-head wins over NOLA.
Highlighting a memorable New Orleans win
April 1, 2022: New Orleans 114, LA Lakers 111
After a James contested three-point attempt at the buzzer airballed, the Pelicans celebrated, picking up a victory that was critical to their hopes of qualifying for the West play-in tournament. New Orleans later defeated No. 10 San Antonio and the eighth-seeded LA Clippers to reach the playoffs and set up a first-round matchup vs. top-ranked Phoenix. In the April Fool’s Day thriller at Crypto.com Arena, the Pelicans were paced by 32 points by CJ McCollum and 29 from Ingram.