The Los Angeles Lakers looked to keep things rolling on Saturday night, going for their fifth straight win in a road contest against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Both teams were running on fumes with key players out and in the second night of a back-to-back, but ultimately the Lakers were able to come out on top with a 104-99 win to improve their record to 9-4.
Anthony Davis loves being back in New Orleans and that was the case early in this one as he scored the Lakers’ first seven points. The Pelicans were playing with confidence early though and took an 18-9 lead after a triple and midrange bucket by Brandon Ingram.
Austin Reaves made a 3-pointer to snap an 11-0 Pelicans run. Davis continued to go to work from there with 12 first-quarter points, but the Lakers still found themselves trailing 30-21 going into the second.
Keeping the Pelicans off the offensive glass was a huge issue for the Lakers as they allowed too many second-chance opportunities. Despite a pair of triples from Reaves and Dalton Knecht, L.A.’s deficit ballooned to 15 with them struggling defensively and on the glass.
The Lakers slowly started to chip away from there and wound up going into the halftime locker room trailing 56-46.
Davis scored four quick points to begin the third quarter and then Knecht hit another pair of 3s as the Lakers got themselves back in the game. Knecht wasn’t down there as he connected from deep once again and then had a dunk to give the Lakers a 64-63 lead.
Knecht and Davis continued to dominate and after D’Angelo Russell got in on the action from 3, the Lakers completely flipped the script and led 75-71 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lakers’ run continued into the fourth quarter as they were locked in defensively. After a pair of buckets by Christian Koloko, L.A. took its first double digit lead of the night. The Pelicans immediately responded with a 9-0 run, however, keeping themselves within striking distance and eventually tying the gamer at 87 heading into the final stretch.
The Pelicans made back-to-back 3s to regain the lead, although James immediately responded with two triples of his own to put L.A. up four in the final minute. The Pelicans would get within two but the Lakers were able to close out the close win for their fifth straight victory.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will now return home for three games, hosting the Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic and Denver Nuggets. The game against the Jazz is a part of the group phases of the Emirates NBA Cup.
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