The Los Angeles Lakers needed a big performance from D’Angelo Russell and others to dispose of the New Orleans Pelicans in Tuesday night’s NBA Play-In game. They also needed an unfortunate injury to dominating Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.
But in the end, Los Angeles was able to come out on top on the road against an upstart Pelicans squad. Neither LeBron James (6-of-20) nor Anthony Davis (6-of-16) shot well from the field in this one. Both did their thing in other regards with Davis racking up 15 rebounds. Meanwhile, James hit on all 10 of his free throws.
All the while, Russell connected on 5-of-11 from three-point range. His hot start helped the Lakers stay above water early.
All of this was enough for the Lakers to overcome 40 points from Williamson order to win by the score of 110-106.
This sets a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets starting on Saturday. Denver swept out Los Angeles en route to winning its first ever NBA title.
It is the No. 2 seed against the seventh seed. Some were looking for the Lakers to tank Tuesday night against New Orleans in order to avoid Denver. A loss here would’ve set up a game against the Sacramento Kings or Golden State Warriors Friday with the eighth seed on the line and a Round 1 matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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NBA world reacts to Los Angeles Lakers setting up rematch with Denver Nuggets
Denver is the odds-on favorites to come out of the Western Conference. This represents a difficult matchup for the Lakers, especially due to the Nuggets boasting two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and home-court advantage.
These two Western Conference foes split their four-game regular-season series. Denver won both of its home games while losing each outing in Southern California.