NEW ORLEANS — There was a feeling of déjà vu in the Lakers’ 124-108 regular-season finale victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday at Smoothie King Center – in which the Lakers clinched eighth place in the Western Conference standings.
Similar to their In-Season Tournament semifinal win over the Pelicans on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas, the Lakers (47-35) played with a business-like approach against New Orleans with LeBron James (28 points, 17 assists, 11 rebounds, five steals) and Anthony Davis (30 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals) leading the way.
James set the tone early, recording assists on the Lakers’ first seven baskets and taking on the Zion Williamson assignment defensively, with the Lakers showing bodies behind James to disrupt Williamson’s drives to the basket. James’ triple-double was his fifth of the season.
Before leaving the game late because of an unknown injury, Davis controlled the paint on both ends and was a significant reason why the Pelicans finished with just 42 points in the paint and Williamson (12 points on 4-for-13 shooting) struggled to finish even when he got to his spots.
The Lakers’ victory, along with the Phoenix Suns picking up a road win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to close out the season, means the Lakers will stay in New Orleans for a rematch with the Pelicans (49-33) on Tuesday in the 7-8 play-in tournament game to determine the West’s seventh seed for the playoffs.
The winner of Tuesday’s game will play the two-seed Denver Nuggets in the playoffs’ first round in the 2-7 series while the loser will host the winner of Tuesday’s 9-10 play-in game between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings on Friday.
The first 42 minutes couldn’t have gone better for the Lakers.
James dished 13 assists in the first half, which marked a new career high in a half for the 21-year NBA veteran, leading the Lakers to a 70-53 lead at halftime.
The Lakers opened the second half with a 13-4 run and took a game-best 32-point lead (91-59) over the Pelicans midway through the third.
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But Davis walked off the court gingerly and asked for Jaxson Hayes to sub in for him after appearing to hurt himself on a putback attempt midway through the fourth with the Lakers leading 115-91.
He was stretched out by a trainer in front of the scorer’s table before going to the locker room. The Lakers didn’t give an official update on Davis before the game ended.
Austin Reaves added 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting (3 for 7 on 3s), while D’Angelo Russell broke out of his brief shooting slump with 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting (5-for-10 on 3s).
CJ McCollum led the Pelicans with 25 points and seven assists.