The Los Angeles Lakers upset the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night, clinching the Western Conference’s seventh seed and a date with the defending champion Denver Nuggets. This first-round series is a replay of last year’s Western Conference Finals, which the Nuggets swept.

When asked about the impending battle with the Nuggets on TNT, Lakers star LeBron James responded, “It’s the defending champions.” We recognize how difficult the matchup has been versus them. They’ll make it difficult for us, and we’ll do our best to make it difficult for them. So we’ll have an opportunity to recover tonight, maybe a little bit tomorrow, and then go back into the books and prepare for this first-round series, which will be really difficult for us.”

The Nuggets have dominated the Lakers in recent games, including last year’s Western Conference Finals series. While Denver has consistently defeated the Lakers, their games are almost always close, with the Nuggets performing better down the stretch to secure victories.

The Lakers have their work cut out for them, but they must feel confident in their ability to complete their first play-in game in order to avoid being eliminated in a second game. This should be a really entertaining Western Conference clash.