The Los Angeles Lakers come into this first round of the Play-In tournament having won back-to-back games when they head out on the road to the Big Easy when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans in this showdown on Tuesday night. We take a look at this matchup to make a Lakers-Pelicans prediction and pick.

(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Los Angeles (47-35) has now won seven of their last 10 games and are most recently coming off of a win against the aforementioned New Orleans Pelicans on the road Sunday. In that game, LeBron James and Anthony Davis put the team on their back combining for 58 points of their 124 points in a 124-108 victory.

They also held the duo of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram to just 25 combined points. The Lakers will need to continue that success against the Pelicans on Tuesday night to move on to the next round of the Play-In tournament.

New Orleans (49-33) come into the first round of the Play-In tournament just winning five out of their last 10 games. They also recently dropped a game against the Lakers 108-124 where the Pelicans looked their worst. While they were efficient from the floor shooting 48% and 41% from 3-point range, they were able to keep up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Pelicans must change something if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive when they host the Los Angeles Lakes in the first round of the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday night.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS FANDUEL ODDS FOR ARR. 16

MONEY LINE

• LOS ANGELES LAKERS: +102
• NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: -120

SPREAD

• LOS ANGELES LAKERS: +1.5 (-110)
• NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: -1.5 (-110)

OVER/UNDER (TOTAL)

• OVER 224.5 (-112)
• UNDER 224.5 (-108)

BEST ODDS FOR LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS

• The New Orleans Pelicans are -1-point favorites against the Los Angeles Lakers. DraftKings currently has the best odds at (-105)

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• The Los Angeles Lakers are the underdogs by 1 point to cover the spread. Bet365 and BetMGM currently have the best odds at +1.5 (-110)
• BetMGM currently has the best odds for the total, which is set at 224 (-110) for the over, and (-110) for the under

LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS INJURY REPORT

LOS ANGELES LAKERS INJURY REPORT

• LEBRON JAMES - PROB TUES - ANKLE
• ANTHONY DAVIS - QUES TUES - BACK
• JARRED VANDERBILT - OUT - FOOT
• JALEN HOOD-SCHIFINO - OUT INDEFINITELY - BACK
• CHRISTIAN WOOD - OUT INDEFINITELY - KNEE

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS INJURY REPORT INJURY REPORT

• NONE

WHY LOS ANGELES LAKERS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Los Angeles Lakers are the team to watch out for in the playoffs this year. There is one thing you don't want and that is to face 'The King' LeBron James with a full head of steam coming into the playoffs. His experience with players like Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, and Austin Reeves can have this Lakers team make a deep playoff run this season.

Right now, the Lakers are playing their best ball, winning seven out of their last 10 games while on a two-game winning streak most recently defeating this impending matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans this evening.

During that stretch, they have covered the spread in six of those 10 games. With how LeBron James has been near impossible to stop at this moment if he's on the court along with Anthony Davis it's hard for even the best in the West to compete against them.

WHY NEW ORLEANS PELICANS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The New Orleans Pelicans are 4-1 coming into this Play-In Tournament series with the Los Angeles Lakers in their last five games. However, they are coming off their third loss of the season to the Lakers where they lost 108-124. The Pelicans will be looking to get over the hump and finally take it to the Lakers when they play host on Tuesday night.

If they want to finally get their win against the Lakers, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are going to need to step their game up. Combining for just 25 points isn't going to get it done but if they can get back to where they were when they defeated the Suns, Kings, and Warriors in three out of their last five games they can certainly get back on track and push forward toward the first round of the playoffs.

FINAL LAKERS-PELICANS PICK & PREDICTION

The New Orleans Pelicans have some uphill sledding ahead of them going against the surging Los Angeles Lakers. The Pelicans are just 5-5 in their last 10 and even worse they are 4-6 ATS. They are also 0-6 ATS as the betting favorite during their last 10 games.

The Lakers on the other hand are on a different trajectory coming into the Play-In Tournament. They have been dominating on the floor winning seven of their last 10 games and covering six of those games. With the way LeBron has this Lakers team humming it's hard to fade him at this point. Take the Lakers with the 1.5 points as they push forward toward the first round of the playoffs.

FINAL LAKERS-PELICANS PICK & PREDICTION: LOS ANGELES LAKERS +1.5 (-110)

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