Current:Home > StocksLakers lock up No. 7 seed with play-in tournament win over Pelicans, setting up rematch with Nuggets -FundPrime
Lakers lock up No. 7 seed with play-in tournament win over Pelicans, setting up rematch with Nuggets
View
Date:2025-04-13 12:19:18
The New Orleans Pelicans didn’t have to win Tuesday’s play-in tournament game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
For their collective psyche, they needed to win the game given their abysmal outing Sunday in the regular-season finale with a guaranteed spot in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs on the line. The Lakers clobbered the Pelicans 124-108 Sunday, creating a rematch Tuesday in a play-in game with the No. 7 seed at stake.
The Pelicans followed up a disastrous performance with a much better but still inadequate performance marred by the late-game exit of Zion Williamson, who sustained an injury and didn’t play the final 3:13 with the game on the line.
The Lakers defeated the Pelicans 110-106 Tuesday, and the Lakers will play the No. 2-seeded Denver Nuggets in a first-round, best-of-7 series starting Saturday in Denver. While that’s not an ideal matchup for the Lakers – they have lost eight consecutive games to Denver, including a sweep in last season’s conference finals and three regular-season games in 2023-24 – at least the Lakers are in the first round.
The same cannot be said for the Pelicans. They need to win Friday at home against the Golden State-Sacramento winner to get the No. 8 seed and first-round series against top-seeded Oklahoma City.
Williamson came to play after scoring just 12 points on 13 shots in Sunday’s loss. He had a game-high 40 points and collected 11 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block. He didn’t get enough help, and the playoff experience from the Lakers, especially from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, subdued New Orleans.
James wasn’t as magnificent as his 28-point, 17-assist, 11-rebound triple-double performance Sunday, but he had 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Davis had 20 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
The Pelicans trailed 75-57 in the third quarter and fought back to make it 93-93 on a Williamson dunk with 3:53 left in the fourth quarter. Williamson exited the game with 3:13 remaining in the fourth quarter and went to the locker room – just after he tied the score at 95-95.
And the Lakers went on a 9-5 run to take a 104-100 lead on D’Angelo Russell’s 3-pointer with 51.3 seconds left.
The Lakers’ 14 3s on 40% shooting from that range was a difference-maker, too. New Orleans went just 9-for-30 (30%) on 3s.
The Lakers also outscored the Pelicans 26-11 from the foul line and made eight consecutive free throws in the final 2:57.
veryGood! (59959)
Related
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- At least 3 killed in shooting on D.C. street
- 2 Florida officers hospitalized after shooting; suspect killed by police
- Christmas Tree Shops announces 'last day' sale; closing remaining locations in 16 states
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- In Youngstown, a Downtown Tire Pyrolysis Plant Is Called ‘Recipe for Disaster’
- Historian on Trump indictment: The most important criminal trial in American history
- Ozempic and Wegovy maker courts prominent Black leaders to get Medicare's favor
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Probe of whether police inaction contributed to any deaths in Robb attack is stalled
Ranking
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- 'The Fugitive': Harrison Ford hid from Tommy Lee Jones in real St. Patrick's Day parade
- Austria's leader wants to make paying with cash a constitutional right
- 3 dead in firefighting helicopter crash after midair collision with 2nd helicopter
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- Maralee Nichols Shares Glimpse Inside Farm Trip With Her and Tristan Thompson’s Son Theo
- Several people detained after fight breaks out at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park in Alabama
- Why the U.S. government may try to break up Amazon
Recommendation
Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
Sales-tax holidays are popular, but how effective are they?
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami face FC Dallas in Leagues Cup Round of 16: How to stream
USWNT might have lost at World Cup, but Megan Rapinoe won a long time ago
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
2-alarm fire burns at plastic recycling facility near Albuquerque
3 killed after helicopters collide, one crashes while fighting fire in California
Niger’s junta shuts airspace, accuses nations of plans to invade as regional deadline passes