LeBron James scored 23 points.He tallied 9 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds as well. The Los Angeles Lakers won 110-106. They secured a playoff spot. The game was against the New Orleans Pelicans. It was in the Western Conference play-in tournament.
Zion Williamson played for the Pelicans. He scored 40 points. He got 11 rebounds too.This marked his debut in NBA playoff matches.
Williamson tied the game at 95 points. He did it with a layup. Then, he got hurt. He went to the locker room. He looked upset.
After that, James made a jump shot. Then, Anthony Davis dunked a lob from Austin Reaves. D’Angelo Russell scored a 3-pointer. Davis got a big rebound and made two free throws. The Lakers beat New Orleans. Davis got 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Russell scored 21 points, making five 3-pointers.The Lakers are scheduled to face off against Denver in the playoff matchups. Last year, Denver beat them. Game 1 is on Saturday.
The Pelicans will play the winner of the other West play-in game on Friday. The Lakers made 14 out of 35 shots from 3-point range. The Pelicans made 9 out of 29 shots from deep. Williamson didn’t get much help from his teammates who usually score high.
Brandon Ingram missed 8 out of 12 shots and ended up with 11 points. CJ McCollum missed 11 out of 15 shots and scored nine points.
Trey Murphy III scored 12 points. He hit two 3-pointers from far away in the second half. This helped New Orleans come back when they were losing by 18 points.
The Lakers Lead Slips Away
The Lakers were winning 75-57 after Rui Hachimura’s layup. But New Orleans started playing better. They scored 19 points while the Lakers only got 8 in the last 5 minutes and 31 seconds of the third quarter.
Williamson did well during this time. He scored with two layups. Then Murphy made a long 3-pointer just before the quarter ended. Williamson made a free throw, so the score was 83-76.
Later on, Williamson made a big play. He dunked the ball after a good pass from Jose Alvarado. This tied the game at 93-all with 3 minutes and 53 seconds left.
The Pelicans wanted to do better after losing badly to the Lakers. They started strong, getting a lead with Herb Jones making a 3-pointer. But they only made four 3-pointers in the first half, missing a lot. The Lakers did better, making 10 out of 20 3-point shots, with Russell getting three of them.
Los Angeles took the lead by scoring 34 points in the second quarter, making it 58-44 with LeBron James scoring 15 points. New Orleans was behind by 14 points.
Williamson scored 20 points in the first half. He reduced the halftime difference to 10 points with two baskets. Ingram passed to Williamson for a dunk. Williamson ran fast and scored a layup just before halftime, making it 60-50.