LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick didn’t have much to say on Friday ahead of his team’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans when asked about his team’s performance in the loss to the Golden State Warriors the previous night.
And it’s almost appropriate that he made it one of his shorter pregame news conferences of the season.
Because of the nature of this time of the season, and the race to clinch a playoff spot in the uber-competitive Western Conference, there isn’t time for teams to sulk or feel sorry for themselves.
One bad stretch could be the difference between having home-court advantage in the playoffs, making the top six outright or having to compete in the Play-In Tournament.
The same also applies to being able to bounce back – which is what the Lakers did on Friday night, beating the Pelicans, 124-108, at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers’ win, along with the Warriors beating the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, moved the Lakers (47-30) back into the No. 3 spot in the West entering the final five games of the regular season.
The Lakers, Nuggets (47-31), and Warriors (46-31) are all separated by just one game for the Nos. 3-5 spots in the West, though the teams in the Nos. 6-8 spots (the Clippers, Minnesota and Memphis) are all tied at 45-32, just two games behind the Lakers.
Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James led the Lakers on Friday, combining for 92 points and 21 assists before Redick pulled his top rotation players in the final two minutes.
“There’s a lot of room to grow,” Redick said of the Lakers’ chemistry with the team’s three best players. “Particularly just with, I think understanding what works for us, that’s the biggest thing, what works for us.”
Doncic finished with 35 points, six assists and six rebounds, while Reaves had 30 points, seven assists and three rebounds.
James recorded 27 points and eight assists.
The Lakers – playing their 21st game in 39 games – overcame a sluggish defensive start, with Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado scoring 18 of his team-high 27 points in the opening quarter to give New Orleans a 30-25 lead going into the second.
“We came out a little flat defensively,” Redick said. And then we went to the zone early in the second quarter. Really just disrupted the rhythm for them. I thought that brought our level of communication up. And we were able to get some stops, kind of get back into the flow of the game a little bit with getting stops and then playing after a miss and not after a make.”
Rookie wing Dalton Knecht, who didn’t play on Thursday (coach’s decision) scored eight points of his scoring total (12) in the first to help the Lakers in the game.
“It was big time,” Doncic said of Knecht. “He didn’t play one or two games and just to come out is very tough, especially for rookie. And he’s stayed ready. It’s a big respect for him and everybody sees that. You gotta stay ready. We gonna need him for sure.”
The Lakers locked in from there, holding the Pelicans to 23 points in the second quarter and outscoring them by 14, with Doncic and James combining for 21 points in the period to give the Lakers a 62-53 lead going into halftime.
Doncic and Reaves combined for 28 of the Lakers’ 31 third-quarter points before the Lakers relied on three-man actions between Doncic, Reaves and James (14 fourth-quarter points) to close out the Pelicans in the fourth.
Reaves’ 15 3-pointers over the last two games is a franchise record.
“LeBron throws me good passes, Luka throws me good passes and I just shoot it with confidence,” Reave said.”That’s really it. But, it’s special [setting the record].”
The Lakers will travel to Oklahoma City to play the league-leading Thunder twice on Sunday afternoon and Tuesday evening before playing the Mavericks on Wednesday, which will be Doncic’s first game in Dallas since being traded to the Lakers in early February.
“Definitely a big challenge,” Doncic said of the Thunder./ “We all know how they play. They’re first in the West for a reason. They’ve been playing amazing. It’s gonna be a big, big challenge for us.”
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