The SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament schedule ⬇️

Dates: April 16-19
At stake: Seventh and eighth playoff seeds in each conference
Participants: Teams that finished seventh through 10th in each conference

Anthony Davis just asked to come out of the game. Jaxson Hayes is in to replace him. Lakers call timeout.

AD now leaning against the scorers table. It appears his back is bothering him. He's now trying to stretch it out on the floor with an L.A. trainer.

Pelicans finally began to punch back, starting with a CJ McCollum 3 and then a Zion Williamson steal of LeBron James in the open court. Much better force witnessed. Problem though is that came when they were trailing by 32 points.

It'll be a 22-point mountain to start the 4th.

Terrible start by the Pelicans to the second half. Austin Reaves was given all day to get set on his three-point shot. No one even attempted to close out on him.

Awful sign if coming back and winning is still in anyone's mind.

Even if the Pelicans don't come back and win, they must fight 10x harder in the second half.

Getting whipped on your home floor and then potentially hosting the same team in the play-in tournament is worst-case scenario. CAN NOT give Lakers that kind of momentum on Tuesday.

The Pelicans trail the Lakers 70-53 at halftime. They showed a real inability to guard the first action or L.A.'s players on cuts, especially early. It set the tone for the first half.

Lakers have scored 50 of those points in the paint (Pels have 12). Think NBA record is 98.

A CJ McCollum 3-pointer cuts the deficit 60-43, but the Pelicans are still getting torched in the paint. The Lakers have increased their points in the paint advantage to 40-10. 40-10!!

That can't happen.

The Pelicans must start playing more physical on the interior. The Lakers have consistently been shooting point-blank layups. They've outscored the Pels 28-10 inside the paint already -- and probably should have more.

With Anthony Davis out of the game for his first rest, Zeller isn't in the game. (He'll likely come in when AD checks back in.) Willie Green is going small now, with a CJ-Dyson-BI-Trey-Zion lineup to start the second quarter.

BRANDON INGRAM BUZZER BEATER FOR 3

Brandon Ingram hits an incredibly tough 3-point bomb with the first quarter buzzer winding down -- he hit his last four jumpers, keeping the Pelicans within good striking distance of the Lakers, 24-28.

Looks like Willie Green is going to with Cody Zeller at C to start 2nd QTR.

CJ McCollum just spoke to the crowd in pregame at the Smoothie King, thanking them for their support this season.

'We've been taking care of business on the road, now it's time to take care of business at the crib.'

Brandon Ingram and Naji Marshall are AVAILABLE to play against the Lakers today, per Willie Green.

Never had travel issues like this season. Think I could add up all the delays from my previous 11 seasons & it wouldn't equal this season. Almost 21 hours after tipping off vs Warriors, the New Orleans Pelicans finally leaving San Fran for an early afternoon tip vs the Lakers tomorrow

Roster Move: The #Pelicans have converted the contract of forward Matt Ryan to a standard NBA contract 🫡

The Suns come from behind and pull out the win in Sacramento.

Pelicans are 49-32.
Suns are 48-33.

Pelicans need a win against the Lakers on Sunday to grab the No. 6 seed or a Suns loss to the Timberwolves, who are fighting for seeding in the 1-2-3 spots.

The Pelicans will finish the season with a 28-14 record on the road. That's the most road wins they've ever had in franchise history.

They will end the season with the most road wins by any team in the NBA this year.

CJ McCollum last 4 games:

29 3PM
61.7% 3PT

Only Steph, Dame, and Harden have hit more 3PT over a 4-game span in NBA history.

HIT THAT DAMN ANTHEM!!😤😤

The Pelicans beat the Warriors, 114-109. Willie Green's face said it all after shaking Steve Kerr's hand -- they hung on despite a serious charge by Steph/GSW.

A step closer to locking up the 6th seed!

McCollum: 28 PTS, 8 3s
Williamson: 26 PTS, 6 STL
Murphy: 24 PTS, 8 REB, 6 3s