The LA Lakers will face the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night in the play-in competition, and the winner will proceed to face the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
The Nuggets swept the Lakers in last year’s Western Conference Finals, which has sparked some dialogue about whether or not the Lakers would be better off losing their initial play-in game, and shooting for the 8th seed.
While this is an outlandish thought to many, it is something being discussed in certain media realms, including on the recent episode of Gil’s Arena.
When speaking about this Lakers vs Pelicans game, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas said, “We losing. Sorry Golden State, we’ll play you second game. You crazy? … If we lose Tuesday, what are we playing OKC? OKC? We’re spanking that.”
While Arenas made it clear he feels the Lakers should position themselves for 8th and a date with OKC, he made another statement about how Los Angeles would line up with Denver if Jamal Murray were to be less than 100% healthy.
“We might want Denver if Murray is still on a minutes restriction,” Arenas said.
“Only if he’s on a minutes restriction. If Murray ain’t out there averaging 20… I’m just gonna be honest with you, I’m not trying to play them the first round.”
