On April 15, Beijing time, in the final game of the NBA regular season, the Lakers challenged the Pelicans away. In this game, the Lakers entered the state early, James sent consecutive assists to help the team take the initiative, and the Pelicans were powerless, and then the Lakers took the initiative in an all-round way, establishing a lead of up to 32 points, directly blowing up the Pelicans, who fought back and were powerless. In the end, the Lakers defeated the Pelicans 124-108 and locked up the eighth spot in the West.
The Lakers are obviously more prepared for this game, after all, they have James and Davis, and they can still play in such a game. The Lakers quickly took the initiative, James sent assists in a row, and then the Lakers completely took the initiative, and the Pelicans were able to withstand it at first, but as Russell and Reaves hit three points one after another, the point difference was completely widened, and then the Lakers completely took the initiative and did not give the Pelicans a chance to fight back, and finally ended the regular season with a 16-point victory.
With the Lakers defeating the Pelicans, it is also a big gift for the Suns, and they want to rise to sixth in the West, only expecting the Pelicans to lose, but fortunately, the Lakers give them a big gift. This time, the Pelicans failed to resist, and it was also a little regrettable, allowing the team to fall directly to the play-offs, and the opponent was still the Lakers who beat them. The Suns, on the other hand, successfully counterattacked and qualified directly for the playoffs, where they will face the Timberwolves, who are third in the West, in the first round.
The Lakers, on their side, also fought back completely strongly, and both the Warriors and Kings lost the last game, allowing them to move up to eighth in the West. This time the Lakers will lock up the eighth, and James and Davis showed excellent form, James directly controlled the whole game, blasting a triple-double of 28 points, 11 rebounds and 17 assists, and Davis got 30 points and 11 rebounds to dominate the inside. In this way, the Lakers finished eighth in the West, and the play-off opponent was still the Pelicans, and they had a chance to win again and advance to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed.
At this point, the Western Conference play-off matchup is also officially confirmed, and it will be contested on April 17, with the seventh-placed Pelicans at home against the eighth-placed Lakers, and the ninth-place Kings at home against the tenth-placed Warriors. Among them, the Warriors and Kings also have some regrets, they had a chance to get eighth, but unfortunately they dropped the chain themselves and failed to grasp it, on the other hand, the Lakers won the last 2 games to complete the counterattack. The seventh and eighth losers have a chance to repechage and face the winner of the Kings and Warriors for the final playoff spot.