The Lakers looked fantastic on their last game before the all-star break.
L.A. got off to a fast start; they scored the first 8 points of the game. It was probably the most beautiful stretch of basketball all season for them. The first 12 field goals were assisted. And then the Lakers closed out the third quarter with a flourish. Lakers went on to win, 120-102.
The first quarter was punctuated by a Troy Brown, Jr. three at the end to put them up, 38-25. Still, the Lakers went on a drought as they only put in two field goals in the last five minutes of the second period. The Pelicans turned up the intensity on both ends and got it close to 55-51 at the half.
Then old friend D’Angelo Russell broke it open as the third came to a close. He went on a personal 6-0 run. Mo Bamba and Austin Reaves closed out a 22-10 overall stampede (Bamba had a powerful dunk and Reaves made a three-pointer and a couple of free throws). The Lakers took it home in the fourth as LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Dennis Schröder made three-point plays (Schröder’s was a three-point shot while the other two made a bucket plus the foul shot).
The Lakers were full of energy right from the start. Yes, the second quarter wasn’t so good but you expect the Pelicans to make a comeback; they weren’t going to roll over. But the Lakers never took their foot off the gas pedal. It helped that the Pelicans couldn’t convert on their three-pointers but the Lakers were decidedly much better defensively than they were against the Blazers on Monday.
D’Angelo Russell really kept the Lakers going; his playmaking and smooth pull-up shooting were just welcome sights for Los Angeles. I really liked that they moved the ball early and often; as mentioned, the Lakers assisted on the first 12 field goals made. The Lakers ended up with three bucks worth of dimes (that’s 30 assists if your math isn’t great).
The Lakers went with another starting line-up. Darvin Ham decided to start the three main acquisitions from the trade deadline along with LeBron and Davis: D’Angelo, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt. The energy was infectious and the Lakers pretty much had control for most of the game. Los Angeles had a rare wire-to-wire victory (at least, for this season).
Anthony Davis looked great on both ends; he finished with 28-10-5. D’Angelo Russell and LeBron James (good to see him play again) finished with 21 points each. I’d like to see improved three-point shooting from the Lakers (9 for 31, .290) but at least, they have respected shooters on the team now.
Brandon Ingram (25 points) and CJ McCollum (22 points) tried their best but they worked for most of their scoring. It’s notable that Trey Murphy III only scored two points in a 0-for-6 outing; he scored 21 points in the Pelicans win over the Lakers last February 4th.
The Lakers go into the all-star break with a 27-32 record. It’s obviously not ideal that they’ll go to the weekend in 13th place in the West. But a little run from L.A. later on can still get them back into the race. As I’ve said a million times this season, they have little to no margin with error. And they’re running out of games.
Still, nice momentum going into the break for Los Angeles. Enjoy the all-star break and festivities!
