Coming off a tough loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers were presented with an immediate chance to get back on track as they hosted the New Orleans Pelicans in the second night of a back-to-back on Friday.
It’s no secret the Pelicans are taking as almost all of their key players have been shut down, although they still competed hard despite the Lakers coming away with a 124-108 win at Crypto.com Arena.
LeBron James kicked off the scoring with a triple and then Austin Reaves hit one as well to get the Lakers out to an 8-2 lead. Jose Alvarado had it going offensively early though, ripping off 18 points to give his team a lead.
With the Lakers trailing by seven, Dalton Knecht got some minutes and made his first two 3-pointers. It was still a lackluster first quarter for L.A. though as New Orleans led 30-25 going into the second.
James appeared to hit his thumb on the rim on a block attempt, but he ended up being OK and began the second quarter with four straight points. Once Luka Doncic started to get going offensively, the Lakers regained the lead.
L.A. went to a zone defense, which slowed down the Pelicans offense. Doncic created some good looks for his teammates to end the half and the Lakers went into the locker room with a 62-53 lead.
The Pelicans had much better energy to start the third quarter, forcing a Lakers timeout after a 12-5 run. With L.A.’s effort level being low, Alvarado took advantage and cut his team’s deficit to just one.
Reaves began to take over from there though, getting hot from deep and then taking a charge on the other end. The Pelicans beat the third quarter buzzer, but the Lakers still took a 93-84 lead into the fourth.
Reaves found James for a dunk early in the fourth quarter. James then returned the favor with a slick pass to Reaves for a corner triple.
To their credit though, the Pelicans did not go away and kept the game within striking distance. That was until Reaves had another explosion, including an incredible alley-oop to James. Doncic then hit a triple to close out the win.
What’s next for the Lakers…
Things get much tough from the Lakers from here as they hit the road for two straight games against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday and Tuesday before Luka Doncic’s first game back in Dallas against the Mavericks on Wednesday.
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