With six games remaining in the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers will look to keep their grip on home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs when they play host to the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.
The Lakers (46-30) are in fourth place in the Western Conference but hold just a one-game lead on the Golden State Warriors after the teams played a memorable contest on Thursday.
LeBron James scored 33 points for the Lakers, but Stephen Curry had 37 as the Warriors pulled off a 123-116 victory.
The Lakers made 18 3-pointers, with Austin Reaves draining a career-high nine himself while adding 31 points. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, it still fell for the fifth time in the past eight games.
Both James and Reaves played 40 minutes on the front end of a back-to-back, with the former playing his seventh game since missing time with a groin injury. He said his status for Friday’s game won’t be determined until the morning at the earliest.
“This was the best I felt since the injury for sure,” said James, who made 10 of 15 shots from the floor. “I just tried to press, get downhill. The rhythm of my jumper felt pretty good. But it’s probably the best physically that I felt and hopefully I can build on that.”
Luka Doncic had 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting but went 0-for-6 from distance. It was the first time Doncic did not have a made 3-pointer since the final game of the 2022-23 season.
“That performance from me is unacceptable,” said Doncic, a right-handed shooter who was playing with left elbow soreness. “Makes it hard for the team to win.”
Friday’s game against a team near the bottom of the conference standings is key for the Lakers, who play four of their final six games on the road, including back-to-back contests at Oklahoma City on Sunday and Tuesday.
After officially shutting down Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum for the remainder of the season, the Pelicans (21-55) put up a solid fight against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday before falling 114-98.
The Pelicans pulled within five points following a quick burst immediately after halftime and were within single digits with 8:26 remaining before they faded late. Jose Alvarado scored 17 points with 10 assists, while Bruce Brown added 16 points.
New Orleans managed to shoot 50.6 percent from the floor but went just 4 of 22 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range. The Pelicans even outrebounded the Clippers 39-30 but could not overcome 17 turnovers that led to 25 points for Los Angeles.
“I’m always gonna bring the energy, always gonna do that,” said Alvarado, who has made 19 starts, including one in each of the past seven games. “… Everybody’s trying to learn each other. Just come out and hopefully see my energy and my competitiveness and they just go with me, which they are.”
After Friday’s contest, the Pelicans play three of their final five games at home, including the season finale April 13 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
