LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday held off a furious late rally to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 and book a first-round NBA playoff clash with the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
Four-time NBA champion James scored 23 points with nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals to lead the Lakers in the play-in game victory that secured the seventh seed in the Western Conference.
The Pelicans, rocked by a late injury to star forward Zion Williamson, will have another chance to advance on Friday when they take on the Sacramento Kings.
Photo: Stephen Lew-USA Today
The Kings ended the Golden State Warriors’ playoff aspirations with a resounding 118-94 victory in the second Western Conference play-in game.
At 39, James is in the playoffs for the 17th time in 21 seasons and gets another shot at Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, who swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals on their way to the title last season.
Williamson scored 40 points and keyed the Pelicans’ rally from an 18-point third-quarter deficit.
His alley-oop dunk tied it at 93-93, but after he drove for a basket that made it 95-95 with 3 minutes, 19 seconds remaining, Williamson grimaced in pain and was soon out of the game, throwing a towel in disgust as he headed to the locker room for good.
The Pelicans kept the pressure on. They tied it twice more, but D’Angelo Russell’s three-pointer with 51.3 seconds remaining pushed the Lakers lead to four points and Los Angeles, with a timely rebound and a pair of free throws from Anthony Davis, held on for the win.
Russell drilled five of the Lakers’ 14 three-pointers on the way to 21 points. Davis scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the victory, which followed the Lakers’ win over the Pelicans on the final day of the regular season on Sunday.
“We understood after how we had played the last game that they were going to give us everything they had — the whole kitchen sink and the toolbox — and they did that,” James said. “So it was a gritty win for us, and we punched our ticket to the post-season.”
The Lakers are to open their best-of-seven series against second-seeded Denver on Saturday.
“We like where we are, we like where the spirit of our group is,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “Everybody is excited about this challenge.”
Pelicans coach Willie Green said Williamson, who also had 11 rebounds and five assists, left the game with “left leg soreness.”
“He’s going to get some imaging tomorrow and we’ll figure out more,” Green said.
The 23-year-old power forward, whose career has been hindered by injuries, remains in search of his first playoff appearance since he entered the league as the top pick in the 2019 draft.
His status is key against a Kings team riding high after their blowout victory over the Warriors and Stephen Curry.
“It was total domination,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted. “The offensive rebounds early in the game set a tone. They didn’t let us get into our offense.”
The Warriors narrowed a 16-point deficit to four at halftime, but were helpless as the Kings pulled away again in the second half.
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