NEW ORLEANS — The Los Angeles Lakers were never going to duck the Denver smoke.

They heard the chatter over the 48 hours leading into the No. 7 vs. No. 8 Play-In Tournament game between them and the New Orleans Pelicans. They heard that they should purposely lose to avoid playing the No. 2 seed Nuggets. The defending champs swept the season series with the Lakers and have won eight straight games against them overall dating to January 2023.

As a result, a handful of national pundits suggested the Lakers would be better off losing Tuesday and taking their chances trying to win on Friday at home against either the No. 9 Sacramento Kings or the No. 10 Golden State Warriors (the Kings ended up advancing) — risking their season ending if they lost — and then playing the No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.

But that was never a consideration for the Lakers, who have won 12 of 15 games and are brimming with confidence. They planned for Tuesday’s game against the Pelicans as if their season was on the line — and they came out and played like it.

The result was a 110-106 win, a victory that elevated Los Angeles to the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and set up a rematch with their Rocky Mountain foes in the first round. Game 1 is Saturday night in Denver.

#2 @nuggets vs. #7 @Lakers pic.twitter.com/f6PsqcDKQh

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 17, 2024

Instead of running from the challenge that has stumped the Lakers for over a year, they’re running toward it.

“If they beat us, they beat us,” Anthony Davis told The Athletic of the Lakers’ mindset versus Denver. “We’re not ducking the smoke.”

The Lakers had several opportunities to fold on Tuesday, as they blew an 18-point second-half lead and were suddenly in a tied game with two minutes left. The Pelicans outscored them 40-22 from the 5:31 mark of the third quarter to the 1:58 mark of the fourth quarter to tie the score at 99. All five starters played at least 32 minutes, with the group appearing gassed down the stretch as the Lakers struggled to get stops and generate high-percentage offensive looks.

LeBron James (23 points on 6-of-20 shooting, nine rebounds and nine assists) and Davis (20 points on 6-of-16 shooting, 15 rebounds and three blocks) combined for rare off-shooting nights. Davis battled through back spasms that caused him to miss layups and limited his mobility defensively. That allowed Zion Williamson to dominate with downhill attacks for one of the best games of his career in his postseason debut, scoring 40 points and grabbing 11 rebounds before exiting in the final minutes with what The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported was a hamstring injury.

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But the Lakers dug in defensively and made several crucial offensive plays over the final two minutes — most notably D’Angelo Russell’s corner 3-pointer in front of the Pelicans’ bench off an Austin Reaves drive-and-kick and Davis’ offensive rebound and subsequent free throws after being fouled — to survive and advance to the playoffs. Russell had 21 points and six assists, and Reaves posted 16 points, five rebounds and six assists.

“Just the grit, the grit of our group,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of what he learned Tuesday about his team. “They made their run. Threw some heavy blows at us. They kept swinging. We kept swinging back. Met force with force.”

Davis will have three full days to rest his back, which is an added benefit to the Lakers not having to play a second Play-In game on Friday and then, if they had won, a road playoff game on Sunday. Instead, they will enter the Denver series far fresher than they were in the Western Conference finals nearly a year ago after two six-game series against the Memphis Grizzlies and Warriors.

“I feel like I’ll be 100 percent as far as the back come Saturday,” Davis said.

The rest will also be important for James, who is still nursing a left ankle peroneal tendinopathy injury. The 39-year-old superstar said he’s readying himself to ramp up his workload. James’ defensive effort was apparent in both Pelicans matchups, absorbing blows from Williamson, rotating as the low man on defense and disrupting passing lanes with his shrewd anticipation.

“Ain’t no more pace,” James said. “Pace yourself for what? It’s now a sprint. It’s a sprint now. We already went through the marathon. … I’ll do whatever it takes. I mean, all the percentages and all that s***, it’s out the window.

“The season’s over. So it’s about just winning. Win the game.”

There are reasons to be more confident about the Lakers’ chances against the Nuggets this time around. They have the fifth-best record in the NBA and fourth-best record in the West since Feb. 1, when they beat the Boston Celtics on the road without James and Davis and kick-started their turnaround (though the Nuggets are second and first in those categories, respectively). The Lakers also have the third-ranked offense over that span. They’ve settled on a starting lineup that is 19-6 together — a 62-win pace.