Before the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans played in a play-in tournament on Tuesday, there were those who believed the Lakers should have ruined the game in order to secure a better first-round playoff matchup.

If the Warriors or Kings had lost on Tuesday, they would have faced the Golden State Warriors or Sacramento Kings in the second play-in round of the playoffs instead of the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets. If Los Angeles had prevailed there, they would have received the eighth seed and a first-round matchup with the very improbable Oklahoma City Thunder.

But given how much the Lakers have struggled this season against the Kings and Warriors, giving up on Tuesday would have been a very risky and stupid decision.

Rather, they defeated New Orleans 110-106 on Tuesday to guarantee a postseason rematch with Denver, which is scheduled to start on Saturday.

Following the game, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham responded to critics who claimed the team ought to have dropped its game deliberately in order to have a chance to face the Thunder in the postseason.

Los Angeles will need to defeat the Nuggets at some point if it hopes to win the championship this year. With the exception of Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt, the team has won 12 of its previous 15 games, so maybe it is best for them to play.