The Los Angeles Lakers are heading to the playoffs. On Tuesday night, L.A. went to New Orleans to play a Pelicans team that they frequently blew out this season, and while they were able to come out on top 106-102, things were far more tense than usual thanks to one of the best performances of Zion Williamson’s career.
Los Angeles led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter before New Orleans started to chip away. By the time the frame came to an end, the Pelicans got it down to seven points, and continued to chip away for much of the fourth quarter thanks to the play of Williamson, who ended the night with 40 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, a block, and a steal.
New Orleans was able to get things tied at 95 with 3:19 left in the game, but unfortunately, disaster struck. Williamson scored the basket that leveled things, but in the process, he suffered an injury that forced him to go to the locker room and not return to the game.
From there, the Lakers were able to create just enough breathing room, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis scoring 10 of the 15 points they scored to close out the game. On the night, every member of the Los Angeles starting five reached double-figure scoring, with James leading the way. In his latest big game against the Pelicans this season, James went for 23 points with nine rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and two blocks, while Davis had 20 points with 15 rebounds and three blocks. Outside of Williamson, no one on the Pelicans scored more than 12 points, although six players managed to hit double-digit scoring.
With the win, Los Angeles earned the 7-seed and a matchup with the Denver Nuggets. The two teams met in the Western Conference Finals last year, where the Nuggets beat them in four games en route to an appearance in the NBA Finals.
New Orleans will now sit and wait to see what’s next. The team will host the final Play-In Tournament game in the Western Conference against the winner of the 9-10 game between the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors. Whichever team wins that game will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 1-8 matchup in the West.