The Smoothie King Center will host one of the most interesting duels in the NBA between the Lakers and the Bulls, one of the games with the most history in the league and one that fans look forward to throughout the year. A very interesting duel is expected between both teams and especially baskets from any part of the court with a good fight between Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson in the paint, while Austin Reaves and CJ McCollum will try to be key by scoring the most points possible at a distance. On the other hand, their rival will be the Lakers who left them out in the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament. It was 2019 when both teams agreed to the transfer of Anthony Davis for Brandon Ingram and another series of players, now, both teams continue to keep those players and they have become an important part of each squad, which is why we will have an interesting duel.
A very interesting duel awaits us in various sectors of the court with Zion Williamson and Anthony Davis fighting each other for rebounds and baskets under the basket, while Brandon Ingram and LeBron James will try to be the scoring leaders of their team and guide them towards victory.
Players to follow?
The players to watch are LeBron James of the Lakers and the Bulls.
Year 21 for LeBron James, the top figure of the Los Angeles Lakers, who will seek to get the Los Angeles team to the Playoffs again. The Lakers star finished the regular season in a great moment, leading the team on offense with an average of 30.3 points, 8.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game. Although LeBron had a great season and was among the MVP candidates, this could not reflect his great year for the Los Angeles team. The physical condition of the team was one of the big problems and this led the board to rejuvenate the squad around its best player. Lebron's connection with Austin Reaves and the health of Anthony Davis will be critical to this team's aspirations. The King is one of the candidates for the MVP of the regular season, the doubts focus more on what the Lakers can do.
On the other hand, Brandon Ingram, the Pelicans forward, began being the team's offensive leader with an average of 22.0 points, 4.0 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game. Ingram is coming off a difficult season, he only participated in 55 of the 82 regular season games and saw the great level shown a few years ago fall when he won the “Most Improved Player” award. So his objective will be to become the leader of the team. Together with CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson, they hope to get a place in the Play-offs and be a difficult opponent from distance and in the paint. With the incorporation of CJ McCollum, the New Orleans forward returned to his usual position and we will see more and more of him, Ingram will seek to be one of the candidates for the MVP of the 2023-2024 season.
Where and what time is the game?
The game will take place at the Smoothie King Center located in the city of New Orleans, this stage will be the venue for this duel of the 2023-2024 NBA regular season. This stadium has capacity for 23,500 fans and was inaugurated in 1994.
The duel between Lakers and Pelicans will take place on Sunday, December 31 with the following times in different countries:
- 18 hours in Mexico
- 19 hours in the United States (ET)
- 19 hours in Ecuador, Colombia and Peru
- 20 hours in Bolivia and Venezuela
- 21 hours in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.
- 01 hours in Spain
The great moment of the Lakers places them as the big favorites and it is expected that they will achieve victory taking advantage of the good rhythm, however, the Pelicans have great roster depth and they will want to win at home against an important rival in the league.
All information on the 2023-2024 NBA season can be followed through the VAVEL signal.