NEW ORLEANS — LeBron James had 23 points, nine assists and nine rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers clinched a playoff berth with a 110-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference play-in tournament on Tuesday night. obtained.
Zion Williamson had 40 points and 11 rebounds in his NBA postseason debut.
But moments after his driving layup with 3:19 left to tie the score at 95, Williamson headed to the locker room, threw a towel in disgust as he made his way into the tunnel with an apparent injury. threw it on the floor.
After the game, Pelicans coach Willie Green said Williamson was “feeling pain in his left foot.”
“Tomorrow he will undergo imaging tests and we will know more,” Green said.
Moments later, James hit a jumper, Anthony Davis dunked an alley-oop lob from Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell hit a three, and Davis grabbed a key offensive rebound before making two free throws. helped the Lakers hold off New Orleans.
Davis had 20 points and 15 rebounds. Russell had 21 points on five hits from deep.
The Lakers advanced to face defending NBA champion Denver in the first round in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals, where they dominated the Nuggets. The first game is Saturday night.
The Pelicans will play the winner of the Golden State-Sacramento West play-in game on Friday.
The Lakers made 14 of 35 3-point shots.
The Pelicans made 9 of 29 from deep, but Williamson didn’t get much help from the Pelicans’ usual high scorers. Brandon Ingram missed 8 of 12 shots and finished with 11 points. CJ McCollum missed 11 of 15 shots and scored nine points.
Trey Murphy III scored 12 points in the second half with two 3s from 8 feet out as New Orleans came back from an 18-point deficit to tie the game.
Rui Hachimura’s layup gave the Lakers a 75-57 lead in the third quarter. However, New Orleans got back into the game by outscoring Los Angeles 19-8 in the final 5:31 of the period.
Williamson sparked the explosion with two layups. Murphy hit a 31-foot 3-pointer late in the quarter, and Williamson’s free throws made it 83-76 at the end of the period.
The Pelicans finally tied it when Williamson hit Jose Alvarado’s alley-oop lob in transition to make it 93-all with 3:53 left.
The Pelicans, looking to redeem themselves from a 128-108 loss to the Lakers in Sunday’s regular-season finale, put together a promising first quarter, taking a 34-28 lead on Herb Jones’ three points.
However, it was one of only four 3s (of 16) that New Orleans made in the first half. Meanwhile, the Lakers made 10 of 20 from deep in the opening two periods, with Russell hitting three.
Los Angeles took the lead by defeating New Orleans 34-16 in the second quarter, taking the lead by as many as 14 points after James, who had scored 15 points in the first half, made two free throws to make it 58-44.
Williamson, who had scored 20 points in the first half, made a backside cut where Ingram found him for a dunk, then made two inside baskets to cut New Orleans’ halftime lead to 10 points. In the final seconds of the period, Williamson dribbled and sprinted all over the court for a layup at the horn to make it 60-50.
