James, Lakers secure a playoff berth
NEW ORLEANS » L ebron James had 23 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers secured a playoff berth with a 110- 106 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in t he W estern C onference play- in tournament on Tuesday night.
Zion Williamson had 40 points and 11 rebounds in his NBA postseason debut. But shortly after tying the game at 95 on a driving layup with 3: 19 to g o, Williamson went to the locker room, throwing a towel to t he floor in d isgust a s he walked into the tunnel with an apparent injury.
After the game, Pelicans coach Willie G reen s aid Williamson h ad “left l eg soreness.”
“He’s going to have some imaging on i t tomorrow and we’ll figure out more,” Green said.
Soon a fter, James hit a jumper, Anthony Davis dunked Austin Reaves’ alley- oop lob, D eangelo Russell hit a 3 and Davis grabbed a crucial offensive rebound, after which he hit two free throws to help the Lakers h old off New Orleans.
Davis had 20 points and 15 rebounds. Russell scored 21, hitting five times from deep.
The Lakers a dvance to face defending NBA champion D enver i n the first round in a r ematch of l ast season’s W estern Conference f inals, w hich was swept by the Nuggets. Game 1 is Saturday night.
The Pelicans w ill take on the winner of the other West play- in game between Golden State and Sacramento on Friday.
The Lakers w ent 14 o f 35 f rom 3- point range. The Pelicans h it 9 o f 29 from d eep and Williamson didn’t get a lot of help from t he P elicans’ u sual high scorers. Brandon Ingram missed 8 of 12 shots and finished with 11 points. CJ Mccollum missed 11 of 15 shots and scored nine.
Trey Murphy III scored 12, hitting two 3s from beyond 28 feet in the second half t o help New Orleans come back to tie it from a deficit as large as 18 points.
The Lakers led 75- 57 after Rui Hachimura’s layup in t he t hird q uarter. But New Orleans got back i n the game by outscoring Los Angeles 19- 8 during the final 5: 31 of the period.
Williamson sparked the surge with a pair of layups. Murphy pulled up for a 31foot 3- pointer in the final minute of the quarter and Williamson’s f ree throw made it 83- 76 at the end of the period.
The Pelicans finally tied it when Williamson slammed down J ose Alvarado’s alley- oop l ob i n transition to make it 93- all with 3: 53 to go.
Looking to redeem themselves for a Lackluster 128- 108 loss to the Lakers in Sunday’s regular- season finale, the Pelicans put together a promising opening quarter and took a 3428 lead on Herb Jones’ 3.
That, however, was one of just four 3s — in 16 attempts — that New Orleans hit in the first half.
The Lakers, meanwhile, went 1 0 of 2 0 from d eep during t he o pening t wo periods, w ith Russell hitting three.
Los Angeles surged into the lead by outscoring New Orleans 34- 16 in t he s econd quarter, leading by as many a s 14 a fter J ames, who had 15 first half points, hit a pair of free throws to make it 58- 44.
Williamson, who had 20 first- half p oints, c ut New Orleans’ h alftime deficit to 10 with a pair of inside baskets, starting when Ingram found him on a backside cut for a dunk. In the final seconds of the period, Williamson sprinting mot of the length of the court on the dribble for layup at the horn that made it 60- 50.