Lakers devour Pelicans, capture eighth seed with blowout victory

LeBron James and Anthony Davis led a dominant performance by the Lakers to beat the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Lakers manhandled New Orleans on Sunday, 124-108, to secure the eighth seed and a rematch against the Pelicans in the play-in game.

LA’s superstar duo dominated in all aspects of this game yet again. LeBron was an assist-giving machine, dishing out 17 and scoring 28 points with 11 rebounds and five steals. The Pelicans had no answer for Anthony Davis who scored 30 points with 11 rebounds and three assists.

The supporting cast also had big performances with Austin Reaves scoring 20 points and Rui Hachimura’s reliable play continuing with him putting up 11 points with seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Taurean Prince was productive off the bench, scoring nine points. D’Angelo Russell broke out of his slump, going 5-9 from behind the arc and scoring 19 points.

LeBron did not score in the first quarter because he spent the entire time handing out eight dimes. The last time that happened in the opening period was back in 2020 against the Pelicans.

The Lakers came out of the gate ready and rolled into a quick seven-point lead. The great start continued as the purple and gold looked completely locked in, with every Laker in the starting five scoring except for LeBron. This game had an intense playoff vibe that both teams and the fans fed off of.

The Pelicans did begin to heat up, but LA kept its foot on the gas pedal. AD took over the 12 minutes of play doing everything and scoring 14 points. A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by former Laker Brandon Ingram cut the deficit to four at the end of the first.

The second quarter started with two free throws by Taurean, who was having a nice start to this game. A very welcomed sight was D’Angelo Russell knocking down a much-needed three to help potentially jumpstart an escape from a slump.

The Pelicans suffered from a lack of defense, which the Lakers took advantage of. The Lakers extended their lead to 20 after a pair of empathic dunks by Rui and Austin.

The purple and gold kept their foot on the gas pedal and completely devoured the Pelicans. Although the Pelicans were making shots, LA’s intensity was suffocating and they led 70-53 at the half. The Lakers scored 70 points in the first half, 50 of those coming from in the paint.

The second half started with Austin and D’Lo hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. The Lakers kept it rolling with D’Lo shooting his way out of his recent slump. It was a complete domination that mirrored the In-Season Tournament semifinal.

It was a 28-point lead after a dunk by LeBron who was having an incredible game. D’Lo and Austin continued their dominance from behind the arc scoring another pair of threes.

Two turnovers caused a slight shift that the Pelicans were looking for, but LA still had all the momentum in their favor. The Lakers' lead, which reached as high as 32, was trimmed down to 23 with New Orleans trying to mount a fake comeback.

The Pelicans gained some momentum, led by Herb Jones scoring 17, but it was still the Lakeshow ahead by a wide margin. At the end of the third, LA was up 99-77.

The fourth started with D’Lo missing back-to-back shots and a three by Trey Murphy III cutting the deficit to 17. A fake comeback was brewing for the Pelicans and it forced a timeout by Darvin Ham.

Luckily for LA, they were playing so well in this game that they had the answers each time the Pelicans tried to make a run. AD’s foul trouble kept him out for an extended time in the third period but in this quarter, he returned and dominated again.

In true LeBron form, he netted a triple-double, which helped the Lakers dominate from the beginning.

The biggest concern in the final minutes came when AD headed to the locker room with an apparent back injury.

The purple and gold brought their garbage time crew in the final minutes and while they couldn’t make any shots, we got a Colin Castleton block.

Key Takeaways:

Sunday afternoon’s game was another example of how the Lakers can play at an elite level when they’re all on the same page. It was pure domination from the start.

Never take Anthony Davis and LeBron James for granted. What a duo. What a performance.

The Lakers’ next game will be a play-in game against the Pelicans on Tuesday at 7:30 PST.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.