The Lakers are part of a competitive seeding race in the West. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
(Luke Hales via Getty Images)
The New Orleans Pelicans wound up being more trouble than expected, but it was a good night for the Los Angeles Lakers in the standings.
With a 124-108 win over a New Orleans team still missing every major contributor, the Lakers moved back into third place in the Western Conference with a 47-30 record. They leapfrogged the 47-31 Denver Nuggets, who were blown out by the Golden State Warriors.
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The Lakers shouldn’t have had much trouble with the 21-55 Pelicans with pretty much everyone but Rui Hachimura playing, but it took a while for them to pull away for good. The Pelicans took a lead as large as seven points in the second quarter, and it wasn’t until the fourth quarter the Lakers took a double-digit lead and kept it.
That’s not to say there weren’t highlights, though.
It was a strong enough night for the Lakers that LeBron James had 27 points and finished third on his own team in scoring. Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves each posted 30-point games and a combined 13 assists. Reaves also set a Lakers franchise record with 15 3-pointers in his past two games.
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Jose Alvarado, appearing to play through some discomfort, led the Pelicans with 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting
The bigger test for the Lakers will be Sunday, when they go on the road to face the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.
Warriors blow out short-handed Nuggets, Clippers do the same to short-handed Mavericks
Elsewhere in the Western Conference, the two teams book-ending the Lakers in the West standings entering Friday played each other. Despite playing on the second half of a back-to-back the Warriors didn’t have much trouble with the Nuggets.
A day after beating the Lakers 123-116, the Warriors blew out the Nuggets 118-104. There was no 61-point triple-double from Nikola Jokić this time, nor a return from Jamal Murray. Stephen Curry went off for 36 points, while Brandin Podziemski followed up a career night with 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
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The Warriors are now 20-2 with Curry and Jimmy Butler playing.
On the other side of Los Angeles, the Dallas Mavericks faced the Clippers while resting Anthony Davis and ran into a buzzsaw. The Clippers led by 13 points at the end of the first quarter, by 23 points at halftime and by as many as 35 points in a 114-91 win.
All of that made for an eventful night in the West’s standings.
Western Conference standings after April 4
1. Oklahoma City Thunder, 64-13
2. Houston Rockets, 51-27 (13.5 games back)
3. Los Angeles Lakers 47-30 (17 GB)
4. Denver Nuggets, 47-31 (17.5 GB)
5. Golden State Warriors, 46-31 (18 GB)
T6. Los Angeles Clippers, 45-32 (19 GB)
T6. Memphis Grizzlies, 45-32 (19 GB)
T6. Minnesota Timberwolves, 45-32 (19 GB)
9. Dallas Mavericks, 38-40 (26 GB)
10. Sacramento Kings, 37-40 (27)