Lakers vs. Pelicans Preview: Can L.A. find their legs and complete the sweep?

Coming fresh off of a 17-point loss against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will pay a visit to the Smoothie King Center on Sunday for their fourth matchup of the season against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Whether or not it’s their final matchup of the season depends on how the final 24 regular season games play out.

With a 26-33 record, the Pelicans are just 2.5 games back of the No. 8 seed Grizzlies, and there’s a good chance that gap will continue to get smaller. While the Grizzlies are missing a key player in Jaren Jackson Jr., the Pelicans just got one back in Zion Williamson, who’s put up historic numbers through his first 10 games in the NBA. The Pelicans are 7-3 when Williamson’s played this season.

One of the teams the Pelicans fell to during that 10-game stretch was the Lakers, who they’ve lost to in three tries this season. The Lakers have a chance to make it four wins in a row against the Pelicans on Sunday and complete the season series sweep — a potential look at what could happen in the postseason, too.

Given the playoff implications, the feelings of resentment that Pelicans fans have towards Anthony Davis, and the fact that Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram haven’t beaten their former team, the Lakers will get the Pelicans’ best on Sunday night. Hopefully the Lakers can rise to the occasion once again.

Tip-off is at 5 p.m. PST on ESPN nationally and Spectrum SportsNet locally.

Notes and Updates

• Anthony Davis will miss Sunday’s game with a sore right knee. Kyle Kuzma will start in his place, according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. Alex Caruso is also out.
• LeBron James and Danny Green will all be active on Sunday. Green missed Saturday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies with a sore hip.

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