Lakers: Malik Beasley Beasts, LA Cruises To Much-Needed Blowout In New Orleans
Tonight, your Los Angeles Lakers absolutely throttled the New Orleans Pelicans, leading wire-to-wire to eventually win 123-108 behind several big performances from big-ticket players. With the victory, Los Angeles moves to just one game under a .500 record once again, 34-35, with a matchup against the Houston Rockets next on the docket tomorrow night. Anthony Davis has already been ruled out as he strives to maintain his right foot stress injury, per Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register.
The Lakers kicked things off about as well as they possibly could, galloping to a 14-0 lead. Davis himself scored the team's first eight points, and shooting guard Malik Beasley and point guard D'Angelo Russell subsequently scored back-to-back treys to build out that double-digit edge.
Los Angeles made a season-most nine triples in that opening frame. Beasley and Russell each made three apiece, combining to go 6-of-9 from three-point land in that period. LA led 39-24 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, reserve LA combo forward Rui Hachimura got in on the action, going 2-of-2 from long range.
Beasley was the star of the game's first half, having gone 7-of-10 from deep for all of his 21 points at the break.
Los Angeles cumulatively notched 15 threes in the first half when all was said and done, leading 75-40 heading into the break.
The Pelicans made a 29-12 from the midway point of the game's third quarter through the top of the fourth, compelling LA head coach Darvin Ham to sub in Anthony Davis for Wenyen Gabriel earlier than he'd have probably liked to in that final frame (at the 9:41 mark) to prevent New Orleans from gaining any more ground. At that point, the Pelicans had condensed a lead that had ballooned to as much as 40 points into a 19-point edge.
The Lakers clearly made a game plan of letting New Orleans wing Herb Jones shoot as many triples as he wanted, while keying in on veteran stars CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram. Jones responded, but it didn't really matter.
Though the Pelicans would win the fourth quarter 33-25, the Lakers did more than enough to win, thanks especially to the terrific two-way play of Anthony Davis down the stretch.
With the double-digit victory against another team angling for a play-in tournament seed, the Lakers have now both burnished their own case for a postseason berth and helped create a little separation between them and New Orleans in the process. LA has gone 5-3 in its games played since All-Star small forward LeBron James first went down with his right foot tendon injury.
Davis finished with 35 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor and 12-of-13 shooting from the charity stripe, plus 17 (!) rebounds and an assist.
Beasley was LA's second-leading scorer for the night. The Lakers' starting shooting guard enjoyed one of his best games for LA, notching 24 points while shooting 8-of-16 from the floor (7-of-12 from three!) and 1-of-1 from the foul line, three assists, two rebounds, and two steals.
After a hot start, D-Lo cooled off in the second, finishing with 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the floor, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. He was still a +26 during his 32:47 on the hardwood.
Austin Reaves (14 points on 4-of-5 shooting) and Rui Hachimura (12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field) were LA's other two double-digit scorers.
The Lakers enjoyed huge advantages in a variety of departments. LA outshot NOLA in long range efficiency (18-of-39 for the Lakers, 11-of-43 for the Pelicans) and free throws (25-of-28 for Los Angeles, 13-of-20 for New Orleans). The Lakers also enjoyed huge advantages in rebounds (52-41) and fast-break points (15-5).
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