All five starters score in double figures as Lakers defeat the Pelicans

The Lakers were looking to stack wins and are not in position to judge an opponent by its win-loss record.

So, when the Lakers encountered a Pelicans team that arrived at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night with a 19-43 record, they knew they couldn’t afford to overlook New Orleans. Especially since the Pelicans had won four of their past five and because they have a talented core of young talent that includes Zion Williamson, Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy III and Dejounte Murray.

It took all five starters scoring in double figures and it took a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter for the Lakers (37-24) to pull out a 110-101 win over a stubborn Pelicans team.

“Well, we knew we weren’t playing against their record tonight,” said LeBron James, who was one of the starters to score in double figures with 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, seven assists and two blocks. But he also had five turnovers.

“It’s the first time they’ve been whole in quite a while,” James, who was eight-for-12 from the field, continued. “And we know when they’ve been whole what kind of team they’ve been. So, we came in with that mindset, understanding what kind of team we were playing and they won their last four out of five before tonight, or something like that.

“But we didn’t come in with the notion that we were playing against their record. We came in with the notion that we were playing a very athletic team that’s been playing exceptional basketball of late.”

The Lakers have been a better team as of late as well, winning their third straight game after losing three straight.

They won this one over the Pelicans with just enough offense and some timely defense.

Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. But he was just 10-for-22 from the field and three-for-10 from three-point range and he had seven turnovers.

“I think we responded in a good way,”: Doncic said. “Sometimes you got to win playing bad. That’s what good teams do. I think that’s what it is today. Obviously it wasn’t our best game, but we managed to get a win.”

Austin Reaves had 15 points on four-for-15 shooting and two for seven on three-pointers, eight rebounds and five turnovers.

Reaves injured his arm late in the fourth quarter after stripping the basketball away from Williamson. But after a quick time out, Reeves returned to the game.

“I just hit my funny bone,” Reaves said. “Whole hand went numb, called a time out, kind of went away and was able to play.”

Deandre Ayton had 13 points and eight rebounds.

There also was the defense and energy Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes provided the Lakers.

Smart had 10 points, four steals and three blocks. He also was big on offense, drilling a three-pointer with 1:34 left for a 105-98 Lakers lead.

Hayes had eight points, six rebounds and two blocks.

“Jaxson was guarding Zion, which is not easy,” Doncic said. “So, I think he had some big, big plays for us. And obviously Smart has been the key to our wins (this season).”

The Lakers had 20 turnovers through three quarters, which didn’t help their cause.

They had just one in the fourth quarter and that came on a late-game 24-second violation when they were running out the clock.

The Lakers didn’t help themselves by losing their composure.

Doncic was given a technical foul in the second quarter. Luke Kennard received a technical foul in the third quarter and Ayton got a technical foul in the fourth quarter after being called for a foul blocking a shot by Williamson.

The Lakers had 12 blocks for the game and seven in the decisive fourth quarter.

They held the Pelicans to 35% shooting in the fourth and just 23 points.

“I think we’ve made some strides defensively,” James said. “I think we didn’t play much at all zone tonight. We started the game with it, we kind of went away from it. So, I thought our man-to-man defense was pretty good. I thought Jaxson and Marcus were great on that end and then everyone else kind of trickled in as well.”