LeBron's Lakers edge Pelicans to book playoff clash with Nuggets / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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LeBron's Lakers edge Pelicans to book playoff clash with Nuggets
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers held off a furious late rally to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 on Tuesday 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 39-year-old superstar is in the playoffs for the 17th time and will get 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.
Zion Williamson scored 40 points and keyed the Pelicans' rally from an 18-point third-quarter deficit.
He followed an alley-oop dunk with a basket in the lane to tie it at 95-95 with 3:19 remaining, but appeared to land awkwardly and was soon headed to the locker room with a left leg injury.
He didn't return, but 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 held on for the win.
Russell drilled five of the Lakers' 14 three-pointers on the way to 21 points. Anthony Davis scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the gritty 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," said James, who is playing his 21st season.
"So it was a gritty win for us and we punched our ticket to the post-season."
The Pelicans still have a chance to reach the playoffs. On Friday they'll face the winner of Tuesday's game between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings for the eighth and final playoff berth in the West.
Pels coach Willie Green said that Williamson would have medical imaging tests on his leg, but had no further information on the severity of the injury.
T.Suter--VB
