Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers vs New Orleans Pelicans live streaming
Mar 21, 2018; New Orleans, LA, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (4) drives past New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) during the first quarter at the Smoothie King Center. USA TODAY Sports / Derick E. Hingle

The New Orleans Pelicans (42-30) will host the Los Angeles Lakers (31-39) at the Smoothie King Center in a battle between conference rivals on Thursday evening (Friday AEDT). The Pelicans, who own the fifth seed in the Western Conference, will take a three-game winning streak into the fixture against the Lakers.

On Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), the Pelicans showed impressive grit by hanging on to a 96-92 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Anthony Davis, a candidate to win league MVP, finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks as the Pelicans improved to 15-5 this season in games decided by five points or less.

Alvin Gentry, coach of the Pelicans, lauded his team's ability to win close games, especially entering the forthcoming 2018 NBA Playoffs.

"We're just not talking about this -- four (games) in five nights or 12 in 14 nights or whatever -- we just got it on the schedule and you've got to play. You're either going to play and do the very best you can or you make excuses, and we're not going to make excuses. The schedule says we're going to play last night, tonight and tomorrow night, so that's what we'll do, and we'll give them the very best we can and see what happens," Gentry said via ESPN.

Meanwhile, the Lakers will continue without leading scorer Brandon Ingram (16.2 points per game), who hasn't played a game since March 3. Ingram, nursing a groin injury, did not participate in Wednesday's practice but is expected to return within the next week, according to Lakers insider Mike Trudell.

Though the Lakers went 4-2 in the first six games without Ingram, they lost their last three fixtures against the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat and a short-handed Golden State Warriors. Rookie point guard Lonzo Ball scored only four points during the 11o-110 loss to the Pacers and hopes to be more aggressive against the Pelicans.

"I think I need to be more aggressive. At the same time, we have a lot of guys who can shoot the ball. Someone has to pass, so it's kind of my job to get everybody the ball, but I'd definitely like to score a little bit more," Ball said on the eve of the game. Los Angeles Lakers vs New Orleans Pelicans live streaming, Lakers vs Pelicans live streaming, Lakers live streaming and NBA live streaming info follows.

Lakers vs Pelicans live stream: Watch NBA online
Date: Thursday, March 22 (Friday AEDT)
Start Time: 7 p.m. CDT (Local Time), 11 a.m. AEDT (Tuesday)
TV Channel: TWC-SN, Fox Sports New Orleans (USA)
Live Stream: NBA League Pass (Global), Spectrum SportsNet (USA)