NBA In-Season Tournament West semifinal: Odds, best bets for Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Pelicans

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The Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans meet Thursday in the NBA In-Season Tournament Western Conference semifinal in Las Vegas.

Tipoff from T-Mobile Arena is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on TNT and truTV.

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As of Wednesday, the top-seeded Lakers (13-9, 5-0 IST) were a consensus 1.5-point favorite (-118 moneyline) in the contest, which featured an over/under game total of 230 points.

New Orleans (12-10, 4-1 IST) was a consensus -101 moneyline underdog.

L.A. has won seven of its last 10 games with the most recent being Wednesday night’s 106-103 IST quarterfinal victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns.

Veterans LeBron James (24.7 points, 6.6 assists per game) and Anthony Davis (23.0 points, 12.6) remain a potent 1-2 punch for the Lakers, who, as of Wednesday, ranked 24th in the 30-team NBA with a 110.6 offensive rating and ninth with a 111.4 defensive rating.

The Pelicans, meanwhile, have gotten healthier of late with the return of guards CJ McCollum (20.7 points, 6.0 assists) and Trey Murphy (17.0 points) from injury.

Forwards Brandon Ingram (23.7 points) and Zion Williamson (22.7 points) are the leading scorers for New Orleans, which has won three of its last four and ranks 14th with a 114.2 offensive rating and 15th with a 112.8 defensive rating.

Thursday’s game will be the first of four regular season meetings between the Lakers and Pelicans.

The West winner will meet the survivor of Thursday East semifinal between the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers in Saturday’s IST championship (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) at T-Mobile Arena with the inaugural NBA Cup on the line.

Both teams head to Sin City with momentum, and all signs point to a tight, competitive game Thursday night.

New Orleans, on paper, has the deeper, more-talented overall roster, but look for the big-game experience of James and ex-Pelican Davis to shine through on the national stage.

Also expect a loud, pro-Lakers crowd in relative-nearby Vegas, and that should be enough to propel L.A. into Saturday night’s title tilt.

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