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The LA Lakers take on the New Orleans Pelicans in a No. 7 vs. No. 8 seed Western Conference play-in tournament showdown on Tuesday. The winner faces the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the playoffs' first round. While the Lakers have struggled against the Nuggets, FS1's Skip Bayless likes their chances in a hypothetical matchup.
LA (47-35) is coming off a 124-108 road win over New Orleans (49-33) in Sunday's season finale, which set the stage for Tuesday's play-in clash. With their victory, the Lakers finished 3-1 against the Pelicans this season, including a 133-89 beatdown in the in-season tournament semifinals on Dec. 7.
So, many are picking the 2020 NBA champions to secure the victory and finish seventh in the West. However, if they do, knocking off the second-seeded Denver Nuggets (57-25) in the quarterfinals projects to be a far tougher task.
After getting swept 4-0 by Denver in last year's West finals, LA was swept 3-0 in this year's season series. The Lakers haven't defeated the Nuggets since Dec. 16, 2022. Thus, winning four of seven playoff games against the West favorites seems unlikely.
Nonetheless, according to Bayless, he would choose LA over Denver in a potential seven-game series. The outspoken media personality shared his prediction on X/Twitter on Sunday. Outside of mentioning Lakers superstar forward LeBron James, he noted that he expects third-year shooting guard Austin Reaves to carry LA.
"If the Lakers 'have to' play Denver in the first round, I got the Lakers this time. If LeBron can't close, Austin Reaves will," Bayless tweeted.
Bayless is notorious for being arguably James' biggest critic. So, he may just be building the Lakers up to tear them down if they come up short. Nevertheless, it is a bold take from the 72-year-old.
NBA fans in disbelief after Skip Bayless picks Lakers over Nuggets in hypothetical first-round playoff series
Skip Bayless' bold hypothetical prediction left fans on X confounded, not only by him picking LA over Denver but also by his reasoning.
Many mocked him for predicting Reaves, who averaged 16.0 points per game against Denver this season, to be the difference-maker in a potential series.
"LMAO, Reaves!!!?!?!?!?!," @SweetXyience said.
"LMFAOO, BRO SAID AUSTIN REAVES," @Nun1766467 said.
Meanwhile, others pointed out Bayless' long history of incorrect predictions.
"Skip, bruh. If there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that you’re usually wrong a good 85% of the time, year-to-year," @NickTurner0961 said.
"You are so bad at this," @wooeye777 said.
"This is gonna smack on cold takes exposed," @MeckButterz said.
It remains to be seen if the Nuggets will get the opportunity to prove Bayless wrong. However, as of now, there appears to be a strong possibility that his hot take won't age well.
Also Read: 2024 NBA Western Conference Playoffs bracket: All seeds and first round matchups confirmed
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