LeBron James Outduels Anthony Davis as Lakers Get Crucial Win vs. Pelicans
The Los Angeles Lakers need every win they can get if they are going to make the playoffs, and they picked one up Wednesday with a 125-119 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center.
Los Angeles is still just 5-10 in its last 15 contests, but it was at least able to snap a two-game losing streak and avenge Saturday's loss to New Orleans.
LeBron James led the way for the Purple and Gold with 33 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, while Kyle Kuzma (22 points and five boards) and Brandon Ingram (23 points, six rebounds and four assists) provided important support.
Julius Randle was dominant for the Pelicans with 35 points and six rebounds, while Anthony Davis added 22 points and eight boards in 21 minutes of action. Not even those efforts and a near triple-double from Jrue Holiday (19 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds) were enough to topple the Lakers.
Lakers Can't Afford Missteps Against Struggling Teams to Keep Slim Playoff Hopes Alive
The Lakers entered Wednesday's matchup 3.5 games behind the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers and two games behind the Sacramento Kings in the race for the final two playoff spots.
A proper sense of urgency given those standings has been missing in recent games, but Los Angeles finally brought some on the offensive side against the Pelicans. James threw down dunks like he was flying to the rim in his prime on the Miami Heat again, Ingram was aggressive on the blocks and Kuzma was slashing into the lane.
The King also drilled a nearly impossible corner three in the final minute to push a three-point lead to six with Holiday playing suffocating defense.
At least offensively, there finally seemed to be an understanding that this game against the lottery-bound Pelicans was essentially a must-win when looking at what's to come.
According to Tankathon, the Lakers have the seventh-most difficult remaining schedule in the league. That is far more challenging than their primary three competitors, as the Spurs (15th), Clippers (24th) and Kings (28th) will have the chance to feast on winnable matchups.
James and Co. still play the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks twice and face the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Clippers, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers in their final five games. Those are all playoff teams if the season ended Wednesday, and it is fair to assume the Lakers will need a cushion by the time they hit that closing stretch.
It is frankly difficult to envision them stringing together a series of wins facing that daunting slate.
That means they cannot afford any missteps in games like Wednesday's when facing teams with losing records. They still play the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets, and those are all pressure-packed, must-wins at this point.
They are far from guarantees as well thanks to defensive concerns that leave Los Angeles vulnerable on any given night.
It ranks an abysmal 26th in the league in defensive rating in the last 15 games, per NBA.com, which is a primary reason its last three road losses came to the Memphis Grizzlies, Pelicans and Atlanta Hawks.
Any additional missteps like that would likely represent the final blow in the Lakers' playoff chances.
Julius Randle Reminds Lakers What They're Missing
For all the headlines about whether Davis would come to the Lakers (or whether he will in the future), there is another big man on New Orleans' roster whom Los Angeles could use down the stretch.
The Lakers renounced their rights to Randle during the offseason, which Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times noted cleared $12.5 million in salary-cap space right before they signed Rajon Rondo. Randle proceeded to sign with the Pelicans and torched the team that drafted him with the No. 7 overall pick in 2014.
"Although the Lakers publicly said they wanted to keep Randle, they never engaged in negotiations with the power forward's representatives or gave them any true indication of their interest in Randle," Ganguli wrote.
Randle played just one game as a rookie in Los Angeles because of a broken leg but demonstrated gradual improvement when he returned. He averaged 11.3 points per game in his first full season, 13.2 in his second and 16.1 in his third while serving as a force on the boards who posted 8.9 rebounds a night in Purple and Gold.
He has taken another jump this season with the Pelicans and was averaging 20.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game entering Wednesday's matchup.
Davis played limited minutes, so Randle took over for stretches and showed the Lakers just what they've been missing. He extended his game beyond the arc with multiple three-pointers, attacked off the dribble from the perimeter and bullied his way through smaller defenders when matched up on the blocks.
He is someone who would give the Lakers the formidable offensive post presence they've been missing since they traded Ivica Zubac.
Alas, Los Angeles has turned to small-ball lineups instead, which could leave it vulnerable to the litany of talented bigs in the Western Conference down the stretch. Instead of Randle helping solidify the boards and working in pick-and-rolls with James, he was filling up the scoreboard on the other side.
What's Next?
Both teams are in action Friday with the Lakers hosting the Milwaukee Bucks and the Pelicans at the Phoenix Suns.
