LEBRON JAMES IN PLAY-IN IS LIKE A SHARK CIRCLING GETTING READY TO ATTACK

Like that famous land shark from Saturday Night Live, LeBron James is circling the New Orleans Pelicans and getting ready to attack. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, James is coming to their arena and has no desire to play a second NBA play-in game.

“I just want to win, so whatever the game presents itself for me to be, more of an attacker in the scoring range, or if it needs me to be more of a set-up guy, or be more of a defender, I gotta do it all. I am a Swiss Army knife, so, I gotta do it all on the floor and none of it is predetermined,” James said.

“Better than I did at the end of the season last year, going into the postseason,” James said after Sunday’s game. “Obviously, still dealing with it, whatever the case may be, some small things here and some small things there. But I take a lot of pride in the offseason. Just trying to get my ankle and my foot back in order, get my body back in order throughout the regular season.”

“Tuesday’s game is going to be extremely hard, extremely difficult, extremely physical. You know, I’ve always known when you play a playoff series—and I am looking at this like a two-game playoff series—when you win that first game, a team has multiple days to kind of sit on that feeling, you know, sit with that taste in their mouth, of defeat, so, they’re gonna be extremely ready for us.

“We have to come in with the same sense of urgency we had the previous game.”

THE UNDERRATED LINE:
The New Orleans Pelicans are the very definition of an NBA team that is streaky. At times during the regular season, they looked unstoppable, and then they looked like they would be lucky to make it to the NBA play-in. So, how will the Pelicans fair against the Lakers in the play-in? My guess is the Pelicans will end up playing a second play-in. Simply put, James sounds like he is bringing a refuse-to-lose attitude to this game, which generally is a bad thing for his opponents.