Los Angeles Lakerswith a LeBron James who almost reached the triple double, won this Tuesday 110-106 at the New Orleans Pelicans field in the ‘play-in’ and They qualified for the playoffs as seventh seeds, so they will face the current champions Denver Nuggets in the first round.
LeBron James led the Lakers’ victory with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists in a game of enormous balance in which Zion Williamson, in the first postseason game of his career, held the Pelicans to 40 points before leaving in despair due to injury in the last minutes. The Pelicans will play for the last spot in the playoffs on Friday against the winner of the duel between the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors.
Anthony Davis, starter on Darvin Ham’s team after retiring with discomfort from the duel between these teams on Sunday, contributed a valuable double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds, while D’Angelo Russell scored 21 points and 5 triples for some Angelenos in those in which the entire starting quintet finished with double digits.
The Pelicans surrendered after nearly making an 18-point comeback and with the regret of not being able to play the final minutes with Zion Williamson, who had 40 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists before retiring due to an apparent muscle problem. He was the leading scorer for the Pelicans in which the starting five only supported him with a total of 34 points distributed among four players. On the other hand, Puerto Rican José Alvarado shone off the bench, with 10 points, 7 assists and a long series of valuable defensive plays. Brandon Ingram, far from his best level after returning on Sunday after a twelve-game absence, did not exceed 11 points (4 of 12 shooting) and watched the key minutes of the match from the bench.
Sparks fly between Alvarado and Russell
There was no shortage of tension in New Orleans and the first period had not even ended when Sparks flew between José Alvarado and D’Angelo Russell. The Puerto Rican provoked him by giving him a light blow with his head on the chest and his rival reacted by applauding him in the face. It didn’t go any further and the referees called a technical foul for both. Those sparks increased the tension on the hardwood and Russell celebrated in style the good moment of the Lakers who took an eight-point lead in the first period and reached a maximum advantage of 18 points in the third quarter. The former Minnesota Timberwolves scored 15 points in just over 14 minutes and gave provocative looks to the rival crowd, although the Pelicans did not throw in the towel.
Based on partials, like a 13-0 in the second quarter, the Lakers stepped on the accelerator. LeBron James, with some great plays in some magnificent one-on-ones with Zion, sustained the good moment of the Angelenos. However, Zion led his team by the hand in the moment of greatest trouble. He reduced the margin to ten points with a great tackle to end the first half and scored eleven in the third quarter, when the Pelicans, with a final 19-8, placed themselves seven points behind the Lakers (83-76). With Zion leading the way and Alvarado leading the way with triples and assists despite suffering a badly sprained ankle, the Pelicans completed their comeback with a dunk from Zion.
Cruel ending for Zion
The former Duke dominated, but in an inning that ended with the layup at 95-95 he noticed a physical problem. He caught the attention of his bench and returned to the locker room desperate, with three minutes remaining. Without his main offensive end, the Pelicans pulled a McCollum who had only scored 5 points. And the Lakers took advantage of Zion’s absence to deliver the final blow, with Russell as the protagonist. He achieved a momentous steal after a pass from Alvarado and He connected the triple from 104-100 that left the Pelicans touched.
There were 51 seconds left and the Lakers, with a perfect 11 of 11 finish from the free throw line, sealed their ticket to the playoffs to reissue last year’s Western Conference finals against the Nuggets.
