Rui Hachimura, playing on a top wing, with some of his finest defense of the season

If the Lakers are to win in New Orleans, Rui made sure that Brandon Ingram would have to shoot a difficult shot. He will need to do so more as the game progresses.

As the Lakers prepare for the 2024 postseason, LeBron James makes upbeat remarks about his health

Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James made some health-related remarks earlier this week, which should give team supporters hope ahead of the 2024 NBA Playoffs’ opening round.

“I was really proud of myself during the offseason for getting my ankle, foot, and body back in order,” James remarked following the Lakers’ season-ending victory. “And for me, it’s definitely paid off.”

For the most of the 2023–24 regular season, the oldest player in the NBA was active and in the starting lineup. This was his 21st season in the league. James averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game while shooting 41.0 percent from three-point range and 54.0 percent from the field in the Lakers’ 82 regular-season games. He only missed 11 of those games.With 71 games played, James surpassed his previous record for most appearances in a single season since the 2017–18 campaign, when he participated in all 82 games and helped the Cleveland Cavaliers advance to the NBA Finals.

James led the Lakers to a 47-35 regular season record, which puts the venerable team at the eighth seed in the Western Conference going into the play-in tournament.

James and the Lakers must first win at least one game in the tournament in order to secure a spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

Tuesday night will be the Lakers’ first play-in game against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans had a rough end to the regular season, going 5-5 in their final 10 games before losing by 16 points to the Lakers on April 14.

In the event that the Lakers triumph, they will guarantee the seventh seed in the Western Conference.

However, should Los Angeles fall short against New Orleans, they will advance to face the victor of Tuesday night’s play-in game between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, which is also scheduled to determine the No. 8 seed in the league.

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