The inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament featured a memorable trip by New Orleans into the event’s final four, but the Pelicans’ first game in Las Vegas was a forgettable one Thursday. Los Angeles built a quick first-quarter lead, later went up by 13 at halftime and expanded that to 30-plus midway through the third period, posting a one-sided victory. New Orleans was eliminated from contention for the first NBA Cup, which will be captured by either the Lakers or Indiana Pacers in Saturday’s championship game.
The Pelicans actually grabbed a one-point edge after the first quarter, but the Lakers won the middle periods by a staggering 81-41 margin. That gave them a 39-point advantage. New Orleans subbed in reserves to begin the fourth quarter, giving initial opportunities to players like rookie Jordan Hawkins and center Cody Zeller.
THREE POINTS
Lakers threes pivotal.
Los Angeles entered Thursday ranked near the bottom of the NBA in various three-point shooting categories, but you would’ve never known that based on their accuracy in T-Mobile Arena. The Lakers surpassed their average three-pointers made per game (9.9) even before intermission by draining 11, with veterans Taurean Prince and D’Angelo Russell hitting momentum-stopping jumpers.
An inefficient night from the starters.
New Orleans’ first unit has been very effective in recent weeks, partly because players like Jonas Valanciunas, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones often shoot over 50 percent from the field, giving the Pelicans consistency at that end of the court. Thursday was a subpar night in that category, however, with every starter aside from Williamson making less than half of their attempts. The other four first-stringers combined to go just 15/46.
Neutral-site road game.
To the surprise of no one, a game in Las Vegas was heavily attended by fans from Los Angeles (only a four-hour drive away). That created an atmosphere that made it not quite but close to a Lakers home game. There was also a contingent of locals in the crowd, as evident by the loud “Knights!” cheer during the national anthem over the word “night” being sung, a clear reference to the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
BY THE NUMBERS
30-5-8: Points, rebounds and assists for 38-year-old LeBron James, in only 23 minutes of action. His three-point bombing in the first half was extremely damaging to New Orleans.
15: Lakers turnovers, one of the few areas where they struggled, other than missing on several dunk attempts. The Pelicans seemed on their way to a big-steal night early, but those dried up later.