Anthony Davis returned to the Smoothie King Center for the first time since he was traded back in June and led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 114-110 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
How it Happened:
The boos for both LeBron James and Davis came before tipoff and continued throughout the night every time they touched the basketball. The Lakers duo opened the game with an early alley-oop, which was quickly followed by a 3-pointer from Brandon Ingram.
New Orleans proceeded to finish the first quarter making nine of their 11 3-point attempts. The quarter fittingly ended on a Jrue Holiday stepback 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Pelicans took a 38-25 lead into the second.
Davis opened the game with 11 shot attempts for his 14 first quarter points.
The scoring did not stop in the first for Davis. He ended the first half with 27 points, but Holiday nearly matched his point production with 25 points of his own going into the halftime break.
The Pelicans’ overall offense slowed down slightly in the second quarter. They scored 26 points, but the Pelicans only had 12 points with a little over three minutes remaining in the second. A late scoring outburst gave New Orleans a 64-54 after the first half.
Holiday only scored two points in the third quarter, but that did not prevent the Pelicans from taking a 89-79 lead into the final quarter. Kenrich Williams made his mark in the third quarter with multiple hustle plays and climbing to 11 total points and five rebounds.
The Lakers fought back to tie the game at 91 in the final quarter before the Pelicans created some separation behind four straight points.
But Kyle Kuzma, James and Davis came through for the Lakers late in the game with timely buckets, steals and made free throws to leave the Smoothie King Center with a 114-110 win.
Big Number: 2
The Lakers were outscored from the free throw line 25-18 but Davis’ two free throws at the end of the game to make it a four-point game sealed the win for Los Angeles.
Player of the Game: Anthony Davis
Davis scored 41 points on 15-of-30 shooting from the field in his return to the Smoothie King Center. He also added nine rebounds in his 37 minutes of action.
Up Next: Friday vs the Oklahoma City Thunder; Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
