LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are back in the play-in tournament. So is Stephen Curry, as he and Golden State will be fighting for their season. And Jimmy Butler returns as well, after this round last year was the first step on Miami’s way to the NBA Finals.

The postseason – not technically the playoffs, yet – gets underway Tuesday with a pair of Western Conference matchups. The Lakers visit New Orleans with the winner securing the No. 7 seed and a series with defending champion Denver in Round 1. And then the Warriors go to Sacramento, an elimination game for both teams.

The Eastern Conference takes the stage Wednesday: Philadelphia plays host to Miami in a game to decide the No. 7 seed, and Atlanta visits Chicago with the season on the line for those clubs.

The Lakers forced a rematch of Sunday’s regular-season finale with a 128-104 victory in New Orleans that knocked the Pelicans out of the sixth seed. Now the Lakers expect the Pelicans to respond as if this were Game 2 of a playoff series.

“You win that first game and a team has multiple days to kind of sit on that feeling, sit with that taste in their mouth of defeat, so they’re going to be extremely ready for us and we have to come in with the same sense of urgency,” said the 39-year-old James, who is playing in his 21st NBA season.

The Lakers and Heat showed that the play-in can be a springboard to bigger and better things last year; the Lakers reached the Western Conference finals, the Heat reached the NBA Finals.

“We’re not the same group as last year,” Butler said. “We – I – are very confident in the guys that we do have, and we know what we’re capable of. We’ll see what we got whenever the time gets here.”

Golden State gets a short bus ride north for an elimination game against the Kings, on the same floor where the Warriors won a road Game 7 in Round 1 last season.

“We’re happy to have a shot,” Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said.

So are the Kings, who had an up-and-down season – but have a chance to vanquish the memory of falling in the playoffs to the Warriors a year ago.

HORNETS: LaMelo Ball is once again contemplating wearing ankle braces if it means staying on the court.

Ball has been limited to 58 games the past two seasons because of ankle issues and hasn’t played for the Charlotte Hornets since Jan. 26. The 2022 All-Star point guard knows that needs to change.

“I’m going to see over the summer, try some stuff,” Ball said of the protective braces.

He said if he can find something that feels good “we can go from there.”

Ball started wearing ankle braces in practice before the season after three separate ankle injuries in 2022-23 sidelined him for long stretches and ultimately resulted in surgery. But he could never find anything he was completely comfortable with on his feet.

ATTENDANCE: Attendance was up 1.4% in the NBA this season, with the league setting a slew of records for ticket sales and sellouts.

The total attendance in the regular season that ended Sunday was 22,536,341, the league said – the second consecutive season in which the NBA set that record. Other records set this season included 872 sellouts, 71% of games selling out and the average attendance of 18,322.

The previous marks in those categories: 22,234,502 for total attendance, 791 sellouts, 63% of games selling out and average attendance of 18,077. All were set in the 2022-23 season.

In all, the league said arenas were filled to 98% capacity, another record.

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