LeBron James recorded 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Los Angeles Lakers clinched a playoff berth with a 110-106 victory over the host New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.
D’Angelo Russell added 21 points for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who led by as many as 18 points in the Play-In game. Anthony Davis had 20 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots for Los Angeles.
The Lakers will face second-seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, with Game 1 on Saturday in Colorado. The Nuggets are the defending NBA champions.
New Orleans star Zion Williamson scored 40 points on 17-of-27 shooting and collected 11 rebounds before exiting with 3:13 left in the game due to an undisclosed injury. Trey Murphy III added 12 points for the Pelicans and Brandon Ingram scored 11.
New Orleans receives a second chance to claim a playoff spot on Friday night. The Pelicans will host the winner of the late Tuesday game between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings.
Davis scored a tiebreaking basket to put the Lakers ahead by two with 1:23 left. Larry Nance Jr. split two free throws 15 seconds later to move the Pelicans within 101-100. Russell then drilled a corner 3-pointer to give Los Angeles a four-point edge with 50.3 seconds to play.
CJ McCollum made a short jumper in the lane to pull New Orleans within 104-102 with 38.2 seconds left. Davis hit two free throws with 14.8 seconds remaining as the Lakers took a four-point lead and held off the charge.
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson scored 40 points on 17-of-27 shooting and collected 11 rebounds before exiting with 3:13 left | Photo Credit: AP
Austin Reaves scored 16 points and Rui Hachimura added 13 for the Lakers, who shot 41.7 percent from the field and made 14 of 35 (40 percent) from 3-point range.
New Orleans hit 46.2 percent of its shots, including 9 of 30 (30 percent) from behind the arc. Jose Alvarado, Herbert Jones and Nance added 10 points apiece.
The Lakers led by 18 in the third quarter, but Murphy and Alvarado each buried a 3-pointer during a 9-0 surge as the Pelicans moved within 91-89 with 5:41 left in the game.
New Orleans caught the Lakers at 93 when Alvarado’s alley-oop pass was slammed through the net by Williamson with 3:53 left.
Williamson scored on a driving hoop 34 seconds later to knot the score at 95 but was injured on the play. He displayed his frustration before heading to the locker room.
Los Angeles held a 10-point halftime lead and soon used a 10-2 spurt to open up a 73-55 lead. Reaves capped it with a basket with 6:53 left in the third quarter.
Los Angeles led 83-76 entering the fourth quarter.
James and Russell scored 15 points apiece as the Lakers led 60-50 at halftime. Williamson had 20 points and eight rebounds in the half for New Orleans.
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