Pelicans game will test how ready Lakers are to take next step toward contending

It's only taken 12 games for JJ Redick to experience the full range of the highs and lows that an NBA head coach endures. In that short time, the Los Angeles Lakers have played a back-to-back, gone on a five-game road trip, suffered a rush of injuries, benched an All-Star starter, and lost four games in five tries.

Los Angeles has been impressive in the face of adversity, but its upcoming clash with the New Orleans Pelicans will go a long way toward proving it can truly contend.

New Orleans is off to a brutal start to the 2024-25 season, which likely yields a rational eye-roll in response to the previous statement. It's 4-9 through 13 games, having endured a six-game losing streak and an unprecedented surplus of injuries.

In mid-November, the Pelicans have already lost Jose Alvarado, Jordan Hawkins, Herbert Jones, CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray, and Zion Williamson to injuries of varying degrees of severity.

With this in mind, a win over the Pelicans should be a foregone conclusion for the Lakers. Even with their own injury issues, the purple and gold have a talent advantage based on availability alone and should thus be able to exploit that and walk away with a needed road win.

The reality of this encounter, however, is it's the exact type of game that the Lakers have a history of lowering their quality of play for.

Lakers must prove they can win the games they're supposed to

Los Angeles has thus far secured wins over a wide range of opponents, including postseason-caliber teams such as the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, and Sacramento Kings. It's also defeated the Memphis Grizzlies without Ja Morant and the Philadelphia 76ers without Joel Embiid or Tyrese Maxey.

The harsh reality facing the Lakers, however, is that their impressive 6-0 record at home is balanced by a 2-4 mark on the road.

Becoming a legitimate contender will require Los Angeles to at least win the road games they're favored in. Unexpected losses happen, but the difference between top-tier teams and the pretenders is that upsets are actually upsets because they happen infrequently.

Most of the Lakers' road losses have admittedly been against quality teams, as well as during a stretch of five consecutive games away from home, but there's clear room for improvement.

An early loss to the Detroit Pistons was a momentum-stalling result that led to a rather lifeless display at the Grizzlies the next time out. Los Angeles avenged its loss to Memphis during a rematch at home, but the concerns remain unanswered.

Now matched up with the short-handed Pelicans, it's essential for the Lakers to take this opportunity in stride and secure a road win that it would have no excuse for squandering.

In a Western Conference that continues to look as deep as ever before, postseason seeding dictates that no game can be cast aside as meaningless—in November or otherwise. Considering New Orleans has the talent to make the playoffs if healthy, that also makes this a unique opportunity for Los Angeles to get a leg up in a potential tiebreak situation.

Regardless of what motivation the Lakers find for going all-out in New Orleans, the simple fact is that true contenders win these sorts of advantageous games—while pretenders let them slip away.