Lakers lock up No. 7 seed by beating Pelicans • Kings eliminate Warriors
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 lategame 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, bestof-7 series starting Saturday in Denver. While that’s not an ideal matchup for the Lakers – they have lost eight straight 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 three-pointer with 51.3 seconds remaining.
The Lakers’ 14 threes on 40% shooting from that range was a difference-maker, too. New Orleans went just 9-for-30 (30%) on triples.
The Lakers also outscored the Pelicans 26-11 from the foul line and made eight consecutive free throws in the final 2:57.
Kings 118, Warriors 94
Keegan Murray sank eight three-pointers and finished with 32 points and nine rebounds as Sacramento remained alive with a convincing victory over visiting Golden State.
De’Aaron Fox added 24 points for ninthplace Sacramento, which controlled the 9 vs. 10 play-in game. The Kings will visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, with the winner receiving the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and a matchup with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Stephen Curry scored 22 points for the Warriors, who came in 10th in the West and will miss the playoffs for the third time in five seasons. Curry committed six turnovers and his long-time Splash Brother teammate, Klay Thompson, had a forgettable contest by missing all 10 of his shots while going scoreless.
Reserves Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga each put up 16 points for the Warriors. Golden State’s Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins scored 12 apiece.
The victory was a dose of payback for the Kings, who blew a 2-0 lead in a first-round playoff series against Golden State last season as the Warriors won four of the last five.
Harrison Barnes scored 17 points and
Domantas Sabonis had 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Kings. Keon Ellis added 15 points, five assists, three steals and three blocked shots for Sacramento, which shot 43.9 percent from the field, including 18-of-39 (46.2 percent) from three-point range.
The Warriors connected on 41.2 percent of their field-goal attempts and were 10-of-32 (31.2 percent) from behind the arc.
Sabonis scored four straight points and Barnes followed with a jumper to give the Kings a 97-78 advantage with 9:35 left in the game.
Golden State crept within 13, but Murray and Barnes drained three-pointers to push the lead to 105-86 with 6:09 remaining. Barnes added four free throws to make the margin 23 with 4:39 to play.
Murray drilled his eighth trey to make it 11690 with 2:15 left as the Kings closed it out.
Murray scored 14 of his 16 first-half points in the opening quarter, and Sacramento led 31-22 after 12 minutes.
The Kings were up by 16 early in the second quarter before Golden State pulled within 54-50 entering the break. Kuminga scored 12 in the half for the Warriors.
Sacramento used a 21-7 burst during the third quarter to stretch its lead to 77-62 on Fox’s trey with 5:39 remaining in the period. The Warriors pulled with 81-71 on Moody’s basket with 3:53 left before the Kings took a 91-76 lead into the final stanza. (USA Today/TNS)