3 takeaways from Lakers play-in win over Pelicans

The Lakers gutted out a tough win versus the Pelicans to punch their ticket to the NBA playoffs.

It certainly wasn’t the cleanest path to victory that the Lakers took in securing their play-in win on Tuesday over the Pelicans, 110-106.

The Lakers were in complete control, up 80-68, when LeBron James took a breather with 2:14 left in the third quarter. The Pelicans closed the period with an 8-3 run that gave them a puncher’s chance heading into the fourth.

New Orleans took their shot and evened the game with 3:43 left in the game and, suddenly, it was nervous time for Los Angeles.

Thanks to late rebounds from Anthony Davis, huge baskets from D’Angelo Russell and an unfortunate injury to Zion Williamson along with Brandon Ingram still returning from his own, the Lakers survived and advanced.

The rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals is now set. The Lakers will face the Nuggets in the first round, starting on Saturday in Denver.

Before we dedicate the following days to answering the question of how the Lakers can beat the Nuggets, let’s take a look back at how the Lakers won this game.

The other starters stepped up

So much about the Lakers leads to a conversation about LeBron James or Anthony Davis. We say the names together so much that it starts to sound like one person: LeBron and AD.

Even in their absence, the focus is on them being gone. We know, in most games, Bron will be great while Davis is always elite defensively and often very good offensively.

So the key becomes whether the Lakers get enough from the supporting staff. Tuesday versus the Pelicans, they certainly did.

Rui Hachimura was respectable on defense and near perfect from the field, shooting 5-6 and ending the night with 13 points. Austin Reaves was mediocre for most of the night but came up big with huge buckets, free throws and passes in the fourth to squeak out the win.

Russell was the star tonight, though. He scored 21 points, shot 50% from the field, and hit the biggest shot of the night, a corner 3-pointer, to give the Lakers a four-point lead with 50 seconds left.

LeBron and Davis will often play well, but if key players like Hachimura, Reaves and Russell execute during clutch moments, this team will reach their full potential. They did so on Tuesday and will need to do it again on Saturday if they want to end their losing streak versus Denver.

Los Angeles Lakers, elite from three?

We all thought points in the paint would greatly impact the Lakers winning or losing, but we were wrong. The key ended up being the Lakers becoming an excellent 3-point shooting team.

L.A. ended the game going 14-35 from three, good for 40% from beyond the arc, while New Orleans shot 9-30, only 30%.

In a game decided by just a handful of points, those five extra-made threes were the difference between winning and losing.

The Lakers shot 37.6% from 3-point land during the regular season, the eighth-best mark in the NBA. But if they can continue this uptick, they will be tough to beat, especially given how good they are at applying rim pressure with a downhill player like LeBron and a scoring big in Davis.

Two-man bench mob

The Lakers have a bench-scoring problem. The only player who can be counted on is Taurean Prince and after him, there’s not even just a dropoff; there’s little to no offensive help from the rest of the second team.

It will likely change from game to game, but the Lakers need something, anything, from the rest of their backup core. On Tuesday, Gabe Vincent took charge, leading the bench with 9 points. Since Vincent’s return from knee surgery, he’s been the plus-minus king, doing everything except scoring to help the Lakers win games.

In New Orleans, he brought his buckets and played one of his best games since returning. He’s quickly becoming a fan favorite and a player you can trust to play good defense, hustle hard and not turn the ball over.

If Vincent can add a handful of points, it will give the Lakers some much-needed offense and allow the key guys some much-needed rest while the team continues to win the minutes he plays.

In fact, since he’s returned, the Lakers are a perfect 3-0 when LeBron, Davis, and Vincent play.

This is the way for the Lakers.

Bench players stepping up, the other starters not named LeBron and Davis hitting clutch shots and some solid 3-point shooting are the recipe for success. They cooked it up in New Orleans, and if they can replicate that meal in Denver, they can serve a cold dish of revenge, finally ending their eight-game losing streak to the Nuggets and starting the first round up 1-0.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.