The Los Angeles Lakers closed out their road trip against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, hoping to continue their upward climb in the standings.
The Pelicans came in losers of 10 straight, but they got back on track with a 131-126 comeback victory over the Lakers. It was a costly loss for the purple and gold, who could’ve tied New Orleans in the standings with a win.
L.A. got off to a nice start as Anthony Davis began the game with a dunk against his former team. Patrick Beverley then had five straight points for the Lakers to give them an early 7-2 lead while forcing Brandon Ingram to commit two fouls in the process.
CJ McCollum helped settle his team in with seven early points, tying the game at 11 before Rui Hachimura responded with a 3-pointer.
The Lakers carried a slim 32-30 lead going into the second quarter, and that was quickly erased as the Pelicans began with four straight points to take their first lead of the game. That was also short-lived, however, with Russell Westbrook draining a 3.
After a slow start offensively, LeBron James got going with some free throws and a triple of his own. The Pelicans also got their star going with Ingram scoring 16 points in the second after going scoreless in the first due to the early foul trouble.
The Lakers otherwise played a really solid half though as Davis’ two-way dominance was on display. Dennis Schroder also did his thing with seven first-half assists before beating the halftime buzzer with a 3 to give the Lakers a 72-61 lead.
L.A. came out sloppy in the third quarter, allowing the Pelicans to immediately cut their deficit to six. Once the Lakers settled back in though, they continued to attack the basket in transition for easy buckets. Davis also hit a pair of 3-pointers, extending the lead back up to 10.
Again though, the Lakers got careless to end the third with some silly turnovers. They also had no answer for Ingram, who had another big quarter to cut New Orleans’ deficit to 106-103 at the end of three.
The Lakers let the Pelicans hang around instead of stepping on their throats when they had the chance, and the result was New Orleans going on another run to start the fourth. Trey Murphy III buried back-to-back 3s to put the Pelicans ahead by six, forcing a Lakers timeout.
Brown came out of the timeout on fire, hitting back-to-back triples to tie the game back up.
Things remained close going into the final minutes, although McCollum hit a 3 to put New Orleans up four. The Lakers’ inability to rebound cost them as the Pelicans got a number of second-chance opportunities. That, coupled with L.A. going ice-cold late, marked the downfall to end the road trip.
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