The Los Angeles Lakers were back in action on Sunday night, hosting the New Orleans Pelicans and looking for their seventh straight win.
This was the first night of a back-to-back for the Lakers so they sat out both LeBron James and Marcus Smart while the Pelicans were missing key players as well. The Lakers still were able to come out on top though, beating the Pelicans, 133-121, to improve to 15-4 on the season.
The Lakers weren’t messing around early as Luka Doncic made a pair of 3-pointers and then Austin Reaves worked his way to the free throw line to go up 17-4.
It was all Doncic early as he had 20 points in the first quarter. The Lakers were locked in defensively and also hot from deep with Rui Hachimura and Dalton Knecht both hitting triples, giving them a 46-27 lead going into the second.
Reaves took control of the Lakers’ offense to begin the second with Doncic on the bench and had eight quick points. New Orleans was struggling to keep L.A. at the free throw line with Reaves and Jaxson Hayes both earning three-point plays.
After going down by as many as 26 though, the Pelicans got hot to end the first half to try to get back in it. But after Reaves beat the buzzer, the Lakers went into the locker room up 77-57.
The Lakers came out flat to start the third quarter as the Pelicans quickly worked their deficit down to 14. Things got a little chippy from there as Doncic was fouled hard by New Orleans rookie Jeremiah Fears, leading to the two exchanging some words and picking up double technicals.
Once L.A.’s lead got down to 11, Doncic said enough was enough and ripped off six quick points to get the lead back to a comfortable 108-92 at the end of the third quarter.
With Doncic on the bench, Reaves and Ayton went to work with the latter having an under-the-radar really strong game. Gabe Vincent then got in on the action with a triple to extend the lead back to 21, effectively putting it out of reach.
Reaves continued to pour it on to close it out, although Ayton bumped knees with a Pelicans player and was forced to come out. With the game out of reach, there was no reason to push the big man in the final minutes.
What’s next for the Lakers…
This was the first leg of a back-to-back, meaning the Lakers will be back on the court on Monday night when they host the Phoenix Suns.
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