After a tough regular season loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the New Orleans Pelicans looked for redemption in their first game of the NBA Play-In Tournament on Tuesday. Instead of redemption, the Pelicans suffered a high-intensity game and ultimately lost 110-106 after star Zion Williamson scored 40 points and went out early.
With the win, the Lakers will face the defending champion Nuggets in Denver in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday. The Pelicans will face the Sacramento Kings, who defeated the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, in Friday’s elimination round.
James scored a team-high 23 points while also dishing out 9 assists and 9 rebounds. The Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell scored 21 points and 7 assists. He made 5 of 11 shots and his three-pointer also played an important role in this victory. points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
Williamson led both teams with 40 points and added 11 rebounds and five assists. In the final minutes of the game, he walked to the locker room with what Pelicans head coach Willie Green later described as soreness in his left leg.
But with Williamson, the Pelicans shook off Sunday’s slump on a back-and-forth night. They led by 10 points early in the second quarter, but Los Angeles found momentum before halftime and took a 10-point lead at halftime. From there, the Lakers continued to attack in the third quarter, continuing to limit C.J. McCollum (nine points total) and Brandon Ingram (11 points), who had missed the previous 12 games with a knee injury. game, and performed poorly in the second game back.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Pelicans cut an 18-point deficit to seven and found a spark from there, cutting the deficit to two after a 9-0 run that included a Williamson block on James, Leading to 3 points from Jose Alvarado. Eventually the score was evened.
Alvado to Zion.
we are tied to #SoFiPlayIn.
TNT 4 minutes left. pic.twitter.com/h9HeKaObJt
— NBA (@NBA) April 17, 2024
How will the Lakers fare against the Nuggets?
It was a thrilling win for the Lakers, who defeated the Pelicans in the second half to lock up the seventh seed and set up a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals against the second-place Nuggets. The Lakers will certainly be the underdog entering the series, but they believe their new starting lineup and strong offense will give them a chance to defeat the defending champions.
The obvious challenge will be to fix Denver’s crunch-time offense, which has crushed the Lakers this past year. Denver enters Saturday’s Game 1 game against the Lakers on an eight-game winning streak. — Jovan Buha, senior Lakers writer
deeper
Win and face Denver, or lose and eliminate the risk?The Lakers made no mistakes
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(Photo: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
