January has treated the Los Angeles Lakers well after a 5-7 December.
Los Angeles won its third straight game with a 111-103 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in Tuesday’s Western Conference showdown at Smoothie King Center. It is now 23-11 overall, while the Pelicans fell to 8-30 with an eighth consecutive loss.
LeBron James (30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists), Luka Dončić (30 points and 10 assists) and Deandre Ayton (18 points and 11 rebounds) led the way for the shorthanded visitors.
The balanced effort was enough to overcome an incredible 42-point performance from Trey Murphy III and drew reaction from social media:
While the Lakers were missing Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent, a matchup with a struggling Pelicans team figured to be a golden opportunity to build on their recent momentum.
However, New Orleans had other ideas in the early going.
The home team jumped out to a 54-51 halftime advantage with Zion Williamson facilitating when defenders collapsed on him and Murphy taking full advantage of the additional space. It also didn’t help Los Angeles’ case that it went ice-cold from three-point range to start the game.
Dončić in particular struggled to find his shooting touch from outside, but he started attacking the lane and connecting with James. James’ ability to do a little bit of everything kept the Purple and Gold within striking distance even when they weren’t hitting their shots.
Marcus Smart and Ayton provided some of the support that was missing in the first half during the third quarter with the former hitting multiple shots from deep and the latter scoring on the blocks while contributing on the boards.
All of it was necessary with Murphy catching fire during a 20-point third quarter that temporarily kept the Pelicans ahead.
However, Los Angeles took the lead back early in the fourth with multiple three-pointers from James, which just so happened to come after he turned back the clock with a windmill dunk in transition.
It didn’t look back from there thanks in large part to an uncharacteristically strong showing on the defensive end. While the Lakers have struggled defensively for much of the season, they held New Orleans to just 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Throw in Dončić hitting multiple three-pointers down the stretch, and Los Angeles will have plenty of momentum heading into Wednesday’s contest against the San Antonio Spurs.
