Coming off a loss to the New York Knicks that snapped a three-game winning streak, the Los Angeles Lakers looked to get back on track versus the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.
They did exactly that. They blitzed the Pelicans in the opening minutes and never looked back. Los Angeles scored the game’s first 14 points and led by as many as 40 points in the third quarter.
It did so by shooting 9-of-14 from 3-point range in the first quarter and 15-of-27 in the first half. Its 15 treys in the first half set a franchise record, and it lead 75-40 at intermission, a franchise record for the biggest first-half lead since it moved to Los Angeles.
The Pelicans made a run late in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter as the Lakers’ offense became slow, stagnant and turnover-prone. But it was too little, too late, as Anthony Davis and company held on for a relatively easy 123-108 victory.
Los Angeles is only in 10th place in the Western Conference, but it is tied with the ninth-place Dallas Mavericks, who hold the tiebreaker, and the eighth-place Oklahoma City Thunder with a 34-35 record. It is two games behind the sixth-place Los Angeles Clippers.