The Los Angeles Lakers will face the Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament after finishing seventh in the Western Conference.
A win would give the reigning champions a direct ticket to the playoffs and a first round matchup against the Phoenix Suns. Should the Lakers lose, they will have a second chance of qualifying for the playoffs by facing the winner of the Memphis Grizzlies – San Antonio Spurs pair.
Anthony Davis, who won his first championship last season with the Lakers, was asked about his experience of playing in high-stake games after the team’s final regular season game against the New Orleans Pelicans. “Just go out there and do everything you’ve been doing,” he said. “Obviously, the stakes are a little higher but you go out there and play basketball, play the style of play that we’e been known to play as the Los Angeles Lakers and we’ll be fine.
“We don’t need to put too much pressure on ourselves. We go out there and do what we’re supposed to do then we can win ball games.
If we don’t play up to our potential and our capabilities of our team, then we put a little pressure on ourselves. That’s what I learned. Go out there and have fun, embrace the moment, embrace the challenge. This is a challenge for us. So we’re going to go out there and embrace it and compete at the highest level and play our style of basketball and let the chips fall where they may.”
