LeBron James, Anthony Davis and their supporting cast make the Los Angeles Lakers look tougher in the playoffs than they looked a few weeks earlier.
The New Orleans Pelicans, meanwhile, find themselves on the brink of elimination and questions about the health of star forward Zion Williamson, whose dominant NBA playoff debut was cut short by a injury in the final minutes of a close match.
James had 23 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, and the Lakers secured a playoff spot with a 110-106 victory over the Pelicans in the Western Conference play-in tournament Tuesday night.
“Tonight we showed what we can do offensively and defensively,” said James, whose team enters the playoffs having won 12 of 15 games. “We have a good group right now, a good rotation, a good plan and the guys are coming in ready to go.”
Williamson had 40 points and 11 rebounds. But shortly after tying the score at 95 on a layup with 3:19 remaining, Williamson went to the locker room, throwing a towel to the ground in disgust as he entered the tunnel with an injury related.
After the game, Pelicans coach Willie Green said Williamson was experiencing “left leg pain.”
“He’s going to have some footage tomorrow and we’ll know more,” Green said.
Shortly after Williamson’s release, James hit a jumper, Davis dunked Austin Reaves’ alley-oop lob, DeAngelo Russell hit a 3, and Davis grabbed a crucial offensive rebound, after which he made two shots franks to help the Lakers hold on.
The Pelicans “threw some hard shots at us,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “They kept swinging. We continued to fight back.
“It revealed a lot about us and what we’re made of,” he added.
Davis finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Russell scored 21, hitting from deep five times. James was 10 of 10 on free throws and Davis was 8 of 10.
The Lakers will face defending champion Denver in the first round in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals, which was swept by the Nuggets. The first match will take place on Saturday evening.
The Pelicans will host Sacramento on Friday, with the winner earning eighth place in the West. The Kings eliminated Golden State in the final play-in game on Wednesday night.
“It’s obviously a tough loss for us,” said Green, whose team could have secured the sixth playoff seed Sunday but lost at home to the Lakers, 124-108, setting up the rematch. during play-ins. “We have to feel this one out tonight, regroup and get ready for another one.”
Williamson, Green said, was “fantastic.”
“He settled into the game. He just kept attacking. He found seams. He rebounded the ball. He played fast,” Green continued. “(If) we have it for a few more minutes, we might have a chance to take this thing out.”
The Lakers made 14 of 35 from 3-point range. The Pelicans hit 9 of 29 from deep and Williamson didn’t get much help from the Pelicans’ usual top scorers. Brandon Ingram – in his second game after a 12-game absence due to a knee injury – missed 8 of 12 shots and finished with 11 points after spending the final minutes on the bench.
“I just like the group that was on the field at that time,” Green said. “BI is still coming back, he’s still finding his rhythm. So I didn’t want to force things. »
CJ McCollum missed 11 of 15 shots and scored nine points.
Trey Murphy III scored 12 points, hitting two 3s from beyond 28 feet in the second half to help New Orleans come back from an 18-point second-half deficit to tie the game.
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 over the final 5:31 of the period.
Williamson sparked the surge with a pair of layups. Murphy hit a 31-foot three-pointer in the final minute of the quarter and Williamson’s free throw made it 83-76 at the end of the period.
The Pelicans finally tied it when Williamson slammed Jose Alvarado’s alley-oop lob in transition to make it 93 with 3:53 left.
Looking to redeem themselves from a lackluster loss to the Lakers on Sunday, the Pelicans put together a promising first quarter and took a 34-28 lead on Herb Jones’ 3.
Los Angeles took the lead, outscoring New Orleans 34-16 in the second quarter, leading by as many as 14 after James, who had 15 points in the first half, made two free throws to make the score 58- 44.
In the final seconds of the half, Williamson sprinted almost the length of the court dribbling for a floating layup at the horn that made the score 60-50.
