NEW ORLEANS — After their “Game 1” victory on Sunday, the Lakers expected a more aggressive and physical version of the New Orleans in Tuesday’s play-in tournament matchup.
And they withstood New Orleans’ best punches, beating the Pelicans, 110-106, to clinch the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and secure a spot in a first-round series against the second-seeded defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets – a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals.
Game 1 is Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT in Denver.
Even with LeBron James (23 points, nine assists and nine rebounds) once again leading the Lakers with a strong two-way performance despite struggling with his shot (6-for-20 shooting), taking on the Zion Williamson defensive assignment for the second straight game, the Lakers had to find other ways to pull out the victory with their star duo struggling to get them across the finish line.
And the Lakers’ starting backcourt delivered.
D’Angelo Russell (21 points on 7-for-14 shooting to go with six assists) came up with a steal in the clutch that prevented the Pelicans from taking a late lead. A few possessions later, Austin Reaves drove into the paint and kicked to Russell for a corner 3-pointer, giving the Lakers a 104-100 advantage with 50.3 seconds left – a lead they held onto for the remainder of the game.
Like James, Anthony Davis struggled to find his offensive rhythm, scoring 20 points on 6-for-16 shooting to go with 15 points and three rebounds.
But Davis made all four of his free throws in the final 15 seconds to prevent the Pelicans from making the comeback.
After a strong start from the Pelicans, in which they were ultra-aggressive defensively on the perimeter and sealed off the paint with timely off-ball shifts, the Lakers recovered to take a 60-50 halftime lead.
But New Orleans cut the Lakers’ 18-point third-quarter lead (73-55) to zero, tying the score at 95 with 3:13 remaining after an offensive flurry from Williamson (40 points on 17-for-27 shooting).
But Williamson went to the locker room for an undisclosed reason for the final three minutes, throwing a towel to the floor in disgust as he walked into the tunnel with an apparent injury.
James made a fallaway midrange jumper over Herb Jones to give the Lakers a 99-97 lead, his lone basket of the fourth, with just over two minutes left.
Trey Murphy III tied the score again at 99-all after hitting a floater.
The Pelicans had the chance to take their first lead since midway through the second after a James’ turnover, but Russell came up with the steal before Reaves threw an alley-oop to Davis to give the Lakers a 101-99 lead with 1:24 left.
Reaves (16 points, six assists, five rebounds) also made a pair of late free throws late to seal the win for the Lakers.
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The Lakers finished 14 for 35 from 3-point range. The Pelicans hit 9 for 29 from deep and Williamson didn’t get a lot of help from the Pelicans’ usual high scorers. Brandon Ingram missed 8 of 12 shots and finished with 11 points. CJ McCollum missed 11 of 15 shots and scored nine.
The Lakers led 75-57 after Rui Hachimura’s layup in the third quarter. But New Orleans got back in the game by outscoring Los Angeles 19-8 during the final 5:31 of the period.
The Pelicans will take on the winner of the other West play-in game between Golden State and Sacramento on Friday for a chance to secure the No. 8 seed.
More to come on this story.